Millennials Don’t Want to Join Unions, Here’s Why

Unions are in trouble. Membership is declining, public pension plans are dangerously underfunded, and young workers are not interested in diverting a portion of their paychecks to dues that offer them few benefits in return. Half the states have passed “right to work” legislation that says that workers cannot be forced to join a union as a condition of employment. In the face of these challenges, the union membership rate has fallen to a 100-year low.

Membership rates continue to fall as traditionally unionized industries such as steel and textiles move offshore and younger workers choose the non-union sector. Only 4 percent of employed 16 to 24 year-olds are union members, and the membership rate for workers 25 to 34 years old is less than 10 percent. Union shops tend to value tenure over skill, and merit bonuses are nowhere to be found. Young workers are the first to be fired, even if they are more competent than experienced employees. Workers aged 45 to 64 have the highest union participation rate at 14 percent.

Given the costs of joining a union, it is unsurprising that unionization rates increase with age and few young people clamor to sign up. Younger workers already ask what that FICA tax is doing in their paycheck, and union dues add another 2 percent to 4 percent tax. United Food and Commercial Workers dues range from $19 to $60 a month, according to the union’s website. Initiation fees can add another $50 to $100, the price of a year’s worth of Netflix.

Reasonable people would expect union bosses to reevaluate unpopular policies in an attempt to attract and retain new members. Reasonable people would be mistaken. Rather than competing in the labor market, union bosses favor influencing government policy by doubling down on political donations.

Unions are required to file annual financial and membership data with the Department of Labor, and recently-released LM-2 forms show that unions continue to struggle to gain new members.

United Food & Commercial Workers International Union membership has fallen 4 percent from its peak in 2009, to 1.3 million. Over this same time, employment has risen by 7 percent. Service Employees International Union membership has fallen 2 percent from its peak in 2011, to 1.9 million. AFL-CIO membership has fallen 7 percent from its peak in 2005 to 12.7 million, although membership has risen over the past few years.

In 1983, the first year in which comparable union membership data are available, 20 percent of employees were unionized. By 1990, 16 percent of employees were unionized. The unionized share currently stands at 11 percent. This prolonged decline has been driven by a sharp drop in private sector unionization rates. Today, only 7 percent of private sector workers are union members, compared with 36 percent of public sector workers.

With union pension plans in such poor shape, young people see little value in having part of their paychecks go towards propping up what is essentially a Ponzi scheme. In 2014, the Department of Labor found that seven UFCW pension plans had reached “critical status”—meaning they are less than 65 percent funded. Some of these plans have been in critical status for seven years. Without a heavy influx of new members, these plans will be completely insolvent long before millennials retire. SEIU, AFL-CIO, and the Teamsters Union all also have plans that are in critical status.

One action that unions are not taking to get their finances in order is cutting pay to union bosses. At least ten UFCW bosses earn over $250,000 annually, and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Bakers brings home $370,000. These extravagant salaries (along with the generous political contributions) are funded by entry-level workers’ dues.

When unions cannot attract new members based on the benefits they offer to workers, union bosses shift their attention to the political sphere. Even though union membership has been falling over the last half century, political contributions by unions have been moving in the opposite direction. Perhaps if dues went to benefit current workers, instead of politicians, wealthy retirees, and union bosses, unionization rates would not be falling so quickly.

In both the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, unions spent over $550 million on federal, state, and local candidates, according to the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics. Nearly all of this went to Democrats. Back in 1990, when union membership was 16 percent of employees, political spending by unions stood at an inflation-adjusted $9 million.

Unions use some of these contributions for their strong opposition to Right to Work legislation. RTW restores workers’ rights to choose not to join a union as a condition of employment. This is a losing battle as 25 states now have RTW laws. To avoid losing business, other states will become RTW. Wisconsin was the most recent to join the ranks, following its neighbors Indiana and Michigan, and some counties in Kentucky have declared that they are RTW.

Many states are working to pass RTW because giving employees the freedom to not join a union attracts business and leads to higher economic growth. According to research by Ohio University professor Richard Vedder, from 1977 to 2012, RTW states saw an extra 11.5 percentage points in economic growth compared to non-RTW states. These results control for population growth and industry concentration.

Among continental U.S. states, non-RTW Connecticut saw the largest annual per-capita income loss at $3,752. But Connecticut is not alone—20 other states saw annual per-capita income losses that exceeded $3,000. Controlling for other factors, Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst James Sherk finds that workers in RTW states are also 1.3 percentage points less likely to be unemployed than workers in non-RTW states.

If unions are to stay relevant in the 21^st century economy, they need to adapt. Overtly focusing on buying legislatures is no way to do so. Millennials rightly see no little value in the current offerings of union membership, but they are the very people needed to fix troubled union finances. It is time union bosses started focusing on young workers’ needs instead of their own.

I am a dummy who worked at a job covered by a union

Easy now, those who haven't been covered by a union don't necessarily know what they're talking about. I used to argue with new young hires who told me the union was stealing money from their paycheck. The rate was less than one percent. I told them that the union just got them a three percent raise, and fight to ensure they get benefits. Three minus one is two, so the worker is getting more than their dues. Young hire would still be complaining, and I'd shake my head at them. I didn't like some of the things the union was doing, and I attended meetings and expressed my opinions. One time I put a stop to them putting support behind another union for leftist political purposes, threatening to take a large portion of the membership out of the union with me, because they were supposed to be there to directly benefit our needs. Union boss agreed with me and stopped the political plan. The union is the worker, but too many folks didn't get involved. Unions have their place, but the workers need to keep the unions honest.

You are very fortunate to have worked during the meat & potato years.

Don’t get to excited when you pull that lever for Hillary, or whatever moonbat you guys stage next.

I worked at a UFCW grocery store. I was offered a assistant manager position. I declined. We had dept. managers who were completely incapable of doing their job. We had a deli manager who couldn’t cook a rotisserie chicken, a bakery manager who couldn’t decorate a cake who once told a customer to go across the street to our competitor. The latter was suspended for a week for that, but got their normal pay after they filed a grievance.

When I worked for a major department store, we had an emergency meeting at the local president's house. The house was on 25 acres with about a half mile river frontage and woods.

The meeting was because the store was filing bankruptcy and closing the stores. The president said he will fight for our jobs and money. The store did pay us our pay... the union didn't do anything, except for getting our dues even after the store closed.

I live in CA. work for a major grocery chain, union shop I HATE the union!!!! Have no choice to belong, and the ONLY people protected are the LOSERS, all of the real performers leave because EVERYONE makes the same pay regardless of your work performance!!!! The ONLY good thing about the union is medical insurance payments, however young workers DO NOT CARE about medical insurance and they make NO MORE than minimum wage!!!! Makes it EXTREMELY hard to find and KEEP hard workers, people may start out REALLY WORKING hard then discover they are carrying everyone elses weight with the same pay and they become dead weight just like the rest!!!!!!

Funny how the unions always complain about CEOs making so much money and having huge houses but it apparently ok when you make you so much money taking dues from the people you represent.

funny meat and potato years ..very insulting....saw blood and steel BUT NO meat and potatoes ....and what is with it all you snobs who think.. because we disagree on something I am all of sudden voting for Hillary and democrat to boot....really all union due payers are democrats....what closed in life you must lead...sad really

I do believe that at times, workers need representation at the table with other business stakeholders, but unions have acted pretty stupidly for at least half a century and I agree with millennials, where is the value.

Why businesses don't offer their low-level employees profit-sharing is a mystery to me. It's hard to stay motivated at minimum wage. A bonus check would make work more interesting, and give EVERY employee a chance to offer their input regarding potential cost savings, etc.

You can tell by the employees' attitudes which stores offer it. I knew that Trader Joe's had to offer it, because the employees are all highly motivated, like the old airport Hari Krishnas.

Turns out my intuition was correct.

The Trader Joe's Lesson: How to Pay a Living Wage and Still Make Money in Retail

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