[Vision2020] Labor Union Notes

[Kenneth Marcy]

http://247wallst.com/2013/02/22/the-states-with-the-strongest-and-weakest-unions-3/ 


Last year, the number of union members in the U.S. fell by more than 
400,000, or 2.7%. This decline was just a drop in the bucket compared to 
the long-term collapse of organized labor over the past several decades. 
In the past few years, states like Wisconsin and Michigan have passed 
legislation like "right-to-work" laws and even banned collective 
bargaining, further undermining public and private unions.

Unionization in this country varies widely from state to state. In 
places like New York and Alaska, more than 20% of workers were union 
members in 2012. In states like Arkansas and North Carolina, the number 
was closer to 3%. The concentration of unions in states has a lot to do 
with their employment base and political atmosphere. But one thing is 
clear, only seven states have seen the percentage of workers in unions 
increase in the past 10 years, and things are not looking up for 
organized labor. Based on data collected by the Bureau of Labor 
statistics and calculations by Unionstats.com <http://unionstats.com/>, 
24/7 Wall St. identified the states with the strongest and weakest unions.

http://247wallst.com/2013/02/22/the-states-with-the-strongest-and-weakest-unions-3/4/ 


**States with the Weakest Unions**

*8. Idaho*
*> Pct. of workers in unions: *4.8% (tied for 7th lowest)
*> Union workers: *29,216 (4th lowest)
*> 10-yr. change in union membership: *-25.2% (9th largest decrease)
*> Total employment: *613,845 (11th lowest)

Although the number of jobs in Idaho increased by more than 11% between 
2002 and 2012, union membership declined by a quarter in the same time 
period. The decline was dispersed relatively evenly across the public 
and private sectors, with membership falling 21.5% and 28.1%, 
respectively. In January 2012, a federal judge ruled that a pair of 
anti-union laws passed by the conservative Idaho legislature violated 
federal law. As passed, these laws prohibited "job targeting programs" 
that used union dues to help contractors win bids and also banned 
"project labor agreements" that allowed contractors to sign agreements 
with union workers while concurrently bidding on public projects.


Ken

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