Posted on 02/01/2013 9:36:48 AM PST by MichCapCon
The state of Michigan lost 42,000 union members from 2011 to 2012, the ninth largest drop in the country, according to a Jan. 23 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Illinois had the largest drop in the country with a loss of 75,000 union members.
Overall, the union membership rate in the U.S. dropped from 11.8 percent in 2011 to 11.3 percent in 2012. Since 1983 — the first year comparative data is available — union membership in the country had dropped from 17.7 million to 14.4 million, a 19 percent drop.
Michigan's union membership went from 671,000 in 2011 to 629,000 in 2012, a 6-percent drop. Michigan became a right-to-work state in the waning days of 2012 meaning unions can’t require an employee be fired for declining to pay union dues or agency fees.
"The fact that Michigan lost over 40,000 members last year shows that the old union model of doing business wasn’t working," said F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Our state needs the economic development and prosperity seen in the other right-to-work states. When our state succeeds so will the unions, in time right-to-work may even stop the atrophy organized labor has experienced in its own membership."
Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, said Michigan is part of a national trend that has seen a drop in union membership across the country.
"Oddly, this is a sign of union success," Davies said in an email. "Unions arose in response to monopsonist firms exploiting workers. With unions, workers could deal with these monopsonists on a more equal footing. Over time, free markets and competition have eroded monopsonist (and monopoly) power making unions largely unnecessary. In fact, where unions persist (mostly in the public sector), the power imbalance now tends in the opposite direction.
"Many unions now exert monopoly power, advancing the interests of their members at the expense of unemployed workers, non-union workers, and taxpayers. … The need for what unions do — balance power — is not outdated. But the free market and competition perform that role better than unions. That's why private sector workers have chosen to do away with unions."
However, University of Michigan Economist Don Grimes questioned whether the BLS data was accurate.
"The drop in membership while the auto industry and other manufacturing industries were growing seems unlikely," Grimes said in an email. "My guess is that you are looking at some inaccurate data. It could be that either the 2011 data was too high or the 2012 data is too low."
That’s the only thing in this country that’s going in the right direction.
Q: What do you call a bus full of lawyers driving off a cliff?
A: A good beginning..
How much longer can this go on?
it will go on until the people of the city realize that you get the government you elect..
alas, they will fail once again...
my prediction, bing gets tossed out, and the clowncil gets re-elected..
But hey, as long as the remaining members get $40 per hour for doing little work and maintain generous work rules, who cares?
Uh, yeah, that's it. Couldn't be about people wanting to keep their own money.
This was going to be my point. A lot of those rmaining union workers have gotten raises while the rest of the workforce wages have gone down.
Fer instance, those "infrastructure" jobs and "green" construction jo9bs have seen a wage increase of almost 20% since '08. An equipment operator here in central IN was making $36/hr in '08...today it is almot $44/hr.. and this is one of the lower paying areas in the country
Q: What’s the definition of “a shame?”
a: Same bus, two empty seats.
I’ll bet the ones lost to death will continue voting RAT from their graves!
I used to work in the railroad industry, which has incredibly strong unions. Their unions will flat out tell you that their goal is to maintain high wages and good work conditions for CURRENT members. Management tells them that if they don’t take concessions, the workforce will shrink over time and the unions say they don’t care. Its all about current wages and benefits, period.
About 20 years ago, I was in Bermuda on vacation. Having breakfast at the hotel with the wife..waiting for our 7am tee time..two attractive young ladies walk in, having obviously been out partying all night. One of them says to the bartender.."Two virgin marys, please."
The bartender, an elderly, mahogany skinned gentlemen, tells the ladies that he doesn't know what that is ( he's obviously having a little fun with them ) One struggles to explain that it's basically a bloody mary without the booze.
"Oh, miss" the barkeep says, in a deep, resonant voice, " here we call that a 'bloody shame.' "
Auto Show is over, the big 3's numbers are out and Detroit said no to the Belle Isle thingee. Rumor is today was the day Snyder was to pull the trigger on Detroit, whether it was Financial Mgr, Chapter 9 etc.
If not today I suspect real soon, the city council will finally be de-b@!!ed no matter what choice he makes....
best news of the day.
All the rest of the news is obammy obammy blah blah blah
best news of the day.
All the rest of the news is obammy obammy blah blah blah
Kinda what the UAW did.
Kept the wages for present workers the same or even higher, and make new hires start out at half the wage of the current ones.
I was stunned when I saw the earnings for a train engineer. It’s unbelievable and unsustainable. Robot trains are right around the corner.
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