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Union Membership Drops Despite Job Growth
NYT ^ | January 24, 2013 | STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Posted on 01/23/2013 12:19:35 PM PST by ExxonPatrolUs

The percentage of American workers in labor unions took an unusually large fall in 2012, dropping to 11.3 percent last year from 11.8 percent in 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Wednesday.

The total number of union members also took an unusually big drop, by 400,000, to 14.366 million, even though overall employment in the United States rose by 2.4 million last year, the B.L.S. said. From 2010 to 2011, the number grew by 50,000, and the percent unionized fell only 0.1 percentage point.

snip

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said union membership for private-sector workers dropped to 6.6 last year, from 6.9 percent in 2011, a drop that has caused some labor leaders to voice fears that unions were steadily fading into irrelevance for many large employers.

The bureau said union membership among public-sector employees fell to 35.9 percent in 2012, from 37 percent the previous year, and there were more union members in the public sector - 7.3 million - than in the private sector, 7 million.

snip

The number of union members is down from 17.7 million in 1983, the first year for which comparable numbers are available, when 20.1 percent of the nation's workers belonged to labor unions.

snip!

(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
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1 posted on 01/23/2013 12:19:38 PM PST by ExxonPatrolUs
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

get the lube ready, here comes Card Check...


2 posted on 01/23/2013 12:20:45 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
Union Membership Drops...

Thanks for the post, I like good news!

3 posted on 01/23/2013 12:25:15 PM PST by smoothsailing
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Next step? Unionize unemployment, food stamp, and disability recipients.


4 posted on 01/23/2013 12:26:20 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
When union membership reaches 0% and the minimum wage are abolished, watch America's economy come roaring back!

So much of what's wrong with our country can be attributed to Frances Perkins, who was FDR's Secretary of Labor. Like old Franklin himself, she was a Northeastern elitist who thought that personal redemption would come through so-called "social justice". Along with the equally-evil duo of Henry Wallace and Harry Hopkins, a sweeping program of socialism was put into place that, to this day, hampers all sectors of the economy.

There's no doubt that Barack Hussein Obama is among the worst presidents of my lifetime but the one who paved the way for this mess is none other than Franklin Diablo Roosevelt, who's spending eternity roasting with his buddy, Joe Stalin.

5 posted on 01/23/2013 12:30:40 PM PST by re_nortex (DP...that's what I like about Texas.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Paging Fox Butterfield.


6 posted on 01/23/2013 12:31:06 PM PST by JeffChrz (2013. Brought to you by the uninformed voters of the United States.)
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To: re_nortex

Agreed. Two more things to add to the list: 1) flat personal income tax rate of 17% (everyone should have something in the game, or they shouldn’t vote), and 2) a corporate tax rate of 15%. What’s the fastest growing economy in the world right now? Hint: they have a 15% corporate tax rate and have reduced gov’t spending as a percent of GNP down to 5% (versus almost 30% in the US). Answer: Chile. Surprised? I was, especially since I can remember when Allende took over as head in the 1970’s with a full Communist agenda. They threw off their shackles. Maybe we can, too.


7 posted on 01/23/2013 12:38:21 PM PST by econjack (Some people are as dumb as soup.)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie
Next step? Unionize unemployment, food stamp, and disability recipients.

Right to work laws don't apply to non-workers, so they can be forced into a union. < /sarcasm, I hope>

8 posted on 01/23/2013 12:39:39 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Choose one: the yellow and black flag of the Tea Party or the white flag of the Republican Party.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

Guess it never dawend on the geniuses at the NYT that the “job growth” is merely a statistical anomaly based on 8 million FEWER FOLKS IN THE PARTICIPATING WORKFORCE!!!

Duh.


9 posted on 01/23/2013 12:39:57 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Well at least that’s one bit of good news to the American economy.


10 posted on 01/23/2013 12:44:11 PM PST by Brownie63
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

But how could more people have jobs while union membership drops? This is as incongruous to the media as the headline which proclaimed “incarceration rates rise despite drop in crime.”


11 posted on 01/23/2013 12:47:28 PM PST by philled (If this creature is not stopped it could make its way to Novosibirsk!)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs

“a drop that has caused some labor leaders to voice fears that unions were steadily fading into irrelevance for many large employers. “

They are afraid their jobs as ‘labor leaders’ will fade away.


12 posted on 01/23/2013 12:49:50 PM PST by wiggen (The teacher card. When the racism card just won't work.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
The next step needs to be right-to-bargain. Right to work laws just mean you don't have to pay union dues to work in a union shop. You still have to accept the wage rates and benefits negotiated by the union. Whenever there is a union in the shop you cannot legally negotiate your own compensation package. That needs to change.
13 posted on 01/23/2013 12:50:46 PM PST by SeeSharp
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
Union Membership Drops Despite Job Growth Explodes Because of Drop in Union Membership

Fixed it.

14 posted on 01/23/2013 12:51:37 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (TYRANNY: When the people fear the politicians. LIBERTY: When the politicians fear the people.)
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To: ExxonPatrolUs
Union Membership Drops Despite Job Growth

Job growth? 8.3 million less working than 5 years ago and jobs have grown?

In a relative sense only have they grown.

15 posted on 01/23/2013 1:23:07 PM PST by Mikey_1962 (Obama: The Affirmative Action President.)
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