More Union Jobs Disappear in the "Recovery"

More Union Jobs Disappear in the "Recovery"
The Labour Research Association

Four years of Republican control and a jobless recovery have wiped out more union jobs in manufacturing and pushed more public sector workers into nonunion positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released new data on union membership for 2004, documenting the ongoing decline in private sector unionization and an alarming drop in public sector unionization as well. The total number of workers represented by unions fell by 361,000 to 17.1 million, or 13.8 percent of the labor force, down from 14.3 percent in 2003.

The number of workers who are union members fell by 304,000 to 15.8 million, or 12.5 percent of the labor force, down from 12.9 percent in 2003, 13.3 percent in 2002, and 20.1 percent in 1984. More than one-third of the loss occurred in the manufacturing sector.

The most disturbing trend is documented in the data on union membership by age group. The percentage of workers 16 to 24 years old who are union members fell to 4.7 percent in 2004 from 5.1 percent in 2003.