Economist: Strike off
The days of union power are long gone in America.
STRIKES and employer-initiated lockouts in America last year were at their lowest since records began, according to new figures published by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Only five work stoppages involved 1,000 or more workers last year. The number of working days lost, 124,000, was trifling compared with the tens of millions of days lost annually when national union membership was strong. Fewer strikes and weaker unions may help to explain why workers are claiming a smaller share of national income than they once did, but a more flexible labour force should be a boon to the economy in the long run. In 2009 only 15.3m workers belonged to a union, or 12.3% of all employed.
Don't know that it is accurate to say that union power is gone. Recently I posted the top campaign donors over the past 20 years. Eight of the top twelve were unions. While the private sector has less unionization, government unionization continues to rise. I believe about 35% of government workers are union. Unions aren't dead.
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