Union membership has been declining for the past couple of decades, however, the number of union members fell by 170,000 in 2019 which was a year when US employers added more than 2.1 million jobs. This reduction in the share of the workforce in labor unions now amounts to 10.3%, the lowest portion recorded since 1983. Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University, said, "The big picture presents the now familiar story of a gradual decline in unions across most industries".
Considering that we are still experiencing the largest economic growth period in history, more and more people are entering the labor market which in context should lower working wages. Do you expect there to be a resurgence in unions in the near future? Is the decline in union membership responsible for stagnating wages?
3 comments:
I believe that due to many shifts in our economy as a whole, I would not expect to see the amount of union members rise in the near or distant future. With more and more manufacturing and working class jobs leaving the country, our economy itself seems to be focusing on different ventures. This, in addition to companies such as Amazon publicly stating their anti-union stance, it is highly unlikely we seem union membership rise again.
This is a really interesting problem. It tracks with many of the tends we've been seeing in politics lately as well; many large corporations are cracking down on unions, reversing much of the progress that was made in terms of workers' rights during the labor movement. However, I did recently read a fascinating article on increasing unionization in the technology sector, especially in the video game industry due to poor working conditions in that field. Perhaps if the US begins to move back leftwards after a sharp right turn with the current administration, we might see more regulations requiring corporations to allow workers to unionize.
One area of the US Economy where people could be disappointed with is the stagnating wages. In theory union membership should be higher. I have to wonder if companies who make controversial stances against union membership are negatively impacting unions.
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