Union membership is as low as it’s been since WWII. When unions were stronger, the middle class was better.
I belong to a Union I do IT admin for a state agency. I get better pay, health insurance and wages and retirement than I did when I worked harder in restaurant kitchens without union support.
I’m not convinced that unions are responsible for the downfall of the US economy. I’m a long way from a leftist, but I believe labor unions have a place in America.
Wisconsin’s Act 10 did not ban voluntary union membership.
Private sector unions are not the problem. It’s public sector unions, any union member paid for by tax payer money, that’s being a real drag on state and local budgets and burdening state income taxes and property taxes. Elected officials mostly have given the store away during contract negotiations, some are waking up now to pension plans that can’t possibly be funded etc.