With Unions On the Decline, Will Workers' Alliances Take Their Place?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.policymic.com/articles/24938/with-unions-on-the-decline-will-workers-alliances-take-their-place

Drew Mendelson


With Unions On the Decline Will Workers Alliances Take Their Place


The decline in union membership in the U.S. over the past four decades has stalled wage increases and cost many workers their pensions and employment benefits. A recent optimistic piece in the American Prospect suggests that non-union worker associations — often supported by unions — are beginning to fill the vacuum by offering those "union free" workers a way to protect workplace rights. Though I applaud such efforts to preserve workplace equity, they are a poor substitute for a real union structure with traditionally bargained contracts that provide for fair wages, hours and working conditions.

The main attraction of union membership has always been that of collective strength. The union anthem, "Solidarity Forever," declares that no force on earth "is weaker than the feeble strength of one." The anthem, written for the International Workers of the World and other unions in 1915 by Ralph Chaplin, is polemical, but even today the sentiment of strength in numbers rings true for many working people.

From 1973 to 2011, the share of the workforce represented by unions declined from 26.7% to 13.1%.



As union membership declines, what have workers lost?

FULL story at link.

[leftyohiolib]

1. unfortunatly unions have adopted a more gentle approach - they have become more go along to

get along- and thus weakening it's own effect- our union has adopted the strategy of the company has the right to run company business so now everything is "company business" and our members are souring on the cwa. now when i started in the cwa back in the early 80's this kind of attitude would NEVER have come from them.
the idea of a union was to have a seat at the table when your job desciption was being devised. with that new attitude what's the point. our grievences dont get addressed( well they do, i guess , in that they agree to disagree). were told that grievences wont be moved along cause arbitrators will side with the company. well whatever. i agree that they are needed but with this kind of attitude they are feuling their own irrelevancy.

how does that saying go
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.