LABOR UNIONS HAVE BECOME A DIMINISHING POWER

Bernstein, Aaron (2005) Big labor’s day of reckoning, BUSINESSWEEK, 3/7, 65-66

The labor movement has been in decline since that beginning of the global information society. The bargaining is completely lopsided toward management. If a company does not like the negotiated terms, they merely move out of the country. Capital can move almost anywhere and labor can not. Hard won gains by labor over the years are diminishing as is the purchasing power of workers.

About 8% of private industry is represented by collective bargaining associations. When teacher unions are added, it is slightly higher.

New strategies include make one super union that involves all collective bargaining. Another is to cut back on administrators in the union. The third is to emphasize recruitment.

However, it is still an uphill struggle. Outsourcing, downsizing, segmenting jobs, and numerous other strategies make union membership a difficult task. Most members of the house and senate as well as the presidency are anti-collective bargaining.