Workers’ economic frustrations could boost ranks of union membership
By Chelsey Levingston, Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"I think workers now are starting to realize that the deck is stacked against them, and we are talking to more non-union workers now than ever about the value of concerted activity and the value of collected voice," said
"Folks are fed up with this economy, and they want an economy that works for everyone," Caldwell said.
Hundreds of people including union members and their families attended.
"I know that we do have some organizing drives in the public sector in this region. We are seeing some renewed interest in 'can collective bargaining state laws work for me?'" said
The benefits of union membership include a sound retirement and a say in working conditions, said
"Unions are demonized and de-flamed," Pope said. But "a lot of times, the union's just asking for a fair shake."
"At the same time, I think they should," Tucker said. "The (income) gaps are getting wider. People should wise up."
"The union will represent you and they will bargain for you as well," Tucker said.
Other benefits of union membership are "the pay, the pension and the insurance," said
Shouse became a member of Laborers' Local 265 when he got a new job in road construction earlier this year. He said he used to make
The current state of the economy is a double-edged sword for unions, said
"On the one hand, sluggish wage growth and increasingly costly benefits generate frustrations that could spur rising interest in collective action in the form of unionization," Masters said in an email.
"On the other hand, the anemic job market raises economic insecurities that could discourage such collective action. In the mix of these competing tendencies is the constant threat of the offshoring of unionized work or work that (can) be done at far less cost overseas, both of a manufacturing and knowledge-based kind," he said.
Experts, including Masters, do not expect a reversal of the decades-long slide in union membership across the country.
In 2013, approximately 11 percent of U.S. workers were members of unions, or about 14.5 million people, according to the federal
Union membership in
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