Remember how I told you a year ago that 2007 had seen the first increase in U.S. union membership since 1983?
Well, the numbers for 2008 are in and they show another year of growth for the movement:
The percentage of American workers belonging to a union jumped in 2008, the first statistically significant increase in the figure in the 25 years that it has been reported.
In 2008, union members represented 12.4 percent of employed workers, up from 12.1 percent a year earlier, according to a report from Bureau of Labor Statistics issued this morning. Until last year, union membership had generally been in a slow and steady decline since the 1950s.
The key words this year are “statistically significant”. The reported growth for 2007, while encouraging, was small enough that it could have been just statistical “noise” — false readings caused by imprecision in measuring. This year’s results, while not huge, are too big to be outside the margin of error.
We all still have a lot of work ahead of us to rebuild the power of workers in the United States; in 1983, the first year reliable data on union membership were collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 20% of American workers belonged to a union, which puts a move from 12.1% to 12.4% into perspective. But every journey starts with a single step forward, and this is definitely one of those.
The next step, of course, is for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and restore workers’ right to organize free of fear, so that they can take their destinies into their own hands. That would make these first small steps the start of something big indeed.
Comments (1)
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i don't understand why the labor movement doesn't try to get obama to begin to encourage americans to buy american.
Jobs and the economy
President obama should begin to make speeches and do radio and television public ads encouraging Americans to buy only american made products when ever possible. He should appeal to american patriotism as the right thing to do and a matter of our national security because of the danger of our growing foreign debt.
We should raise taxes on the rich and corporations to pay for at least a $2500.00 tax cut for the middle class. At the same time giving business huge tax cuts to create manufacturing jobs in america. If just 30% of the people used their $2500.00 to buy american, we would have almost no unemployment. If Americans demanded products business would begin to build.
Giving Americans a tax cut without encouraging them to use the money to buy american would be a waste of money and would only enrich china.
We should set up very strict criteria for what could be labeled made in america. In other words not things built in foreign countries and assembled in america. We would not have to worry about trade laws. We could allow almost any country to import what ever they want into america as long as they allowed us to export with out tariffs or other barriers.
This is a simplistic idea but it would change america
Posted by kevin henderson on February 10, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Posted on February 10, 2009 at 5:43 PM