Transcript Document

The State of the Labor Movement
Elaine Bernard, PhD
Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
Massachusetts AFL-CIO
THIRD ANNUAL FUTURES CONVENTION
Radisson Plymouth, February 6, 2010
Elaine Bernard
• Executive Director, Labor & Worklife
Program, and Harvard Trade Union
Program, Harvard Law School
• Work with a variety of unions – in the
US, Canada, and internationally - on
developing skills & educational
programs for union leadership
• Teach in fields of international
comparative labor movements, unions
& civil society, and leadership &
organizational change
Outline
• The overall state of
organized labor
• What do unions do
and why they
matter to everyone?
• Transforming
unions - learning to
light a union fire
International Context – widespread
global decline in organized labor…
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
98
96
44
80
93
64
80
18
13
82
90
34
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
98
96
44
80
93
64
80
18
13
82
90
34
International (OECD) Trend Line
• Widespread decline in union density in most
countries (though not in Collective Bargaining
coverage)
• Most sever decline in union representation
primarily in the private sector
• Growing gap between union density in public
sector vs private sector
Reasons for Decline…
• Globalization – intensification of international economic &
political integration (free trade race to the bottom)
• Changes in organization of production and employment
(contracting out, offshoring, lean production, JiT inventory
systems…)
• Decline of job-based/workplace focus of employment
• Decline in large, concentrated workplaces
• Transformation of employment relationship (decline in
full time, regular, permanent employment – growth in part
time, contingent, limited term, precarious employment)
• Employer (including government) hostility/opposition to
unions
Organized
Labor
in the U.S.
Union Membership, 1945-2009
22,000,000
20,000,000
18,000,000
16,000,000
1999 = 16.5 million members
14,000,000
2009 =15.3 million members or 12.3%
12,000,000
1945
1957
Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor; BLS; Statistical Abstract.
USDL 10-0069
1969
1981
1993
2006
U.S. Union Density 1945-2009 - 12.3%
40
1954=35%
35
30
25
% 20
15
10
5
0
1945
USDL 10-0069
1949
1953
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997 2008
Workforce, 1945- 2009
Workforce
124,490,000
120,000,000
100,000,000
109 Million
Unorganized
Workers
80,000,000
60,000,000
Union Membership
15,327,000
40,000,000
20,000,000
0
BLS USDL 10-0069
1945
1957
1969
1981
1993
2008
Union Density by State 1983
0% to 9%
10% to 18%
19%+
Union Density by State 2008
Union Members (by industry) 2009
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
47% elementary & secondary education
43% state & local government
22% utilities
22% transportation
14.5% construction
13% information industries
11% manufacturing
8% accommodation
7% healthcare
5% retail trade
BLS USDL 10-0069
Changes in Public/Private Sector
Union Density
Private
sector
1973
15 million
union members
Public
sector
union members
7.4 million
3 million
Private Sector Density 24%
Public Sector Density 23%
USDL 10-0069
2009
7.9 million
Private Sector Density 7.2%
Public Sector Density 37.4%
Strong Support for Unionization
70
“If an election were held tomorrow to decide whether your workplace
would have a union…”
65
60
55
2008: 53%
Definitely or
probably vote no
50
%
45
40
Definitely or
probably vote yes
35
30
25
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
What Do
Unions Do?
Why the Overall
Decline in Unions
Matters to
Everyone
Unions & Public Policy
Weak Union States
Strong Union States
$379
$8,265
$675
$296
$486
$5,774
Education
Unemployment
Insurance
Source: U.S. Census, BNA, 2001
Workers’
Compensation
Unions & Health Insurance
78%
78% of union workers
have health insurance
49%
49% of nonunion
workers get health
insurance
Nonunion
Source: BLS, Employee Benefits in Private Industry, 2007
Union
Unions & Pensions
69%
69% of union workers
have guaranteed pensions
15% of nonunion workers
have guaranteed pensions
15%
Nonunion
Source: BLS, Employee Benefits in Private Industry, 2007
Union
Unions & Wages
$833
$642
Union workers earn
30% more than non
union workers
Nonunion
Source: BLS USDL 07-0113
Union
What Unions Do - Beyond Wages & Benefits
• Organization for winning rights
• Vehicle for exercising rights
• Schools for democracy – the right to participate in decisions that
affect you
• Builders of a community of interest among members, and with the
wider community
• Provides “Voice” vs “exit” - providing management with valuable
“feed back” essential for systems improvement
• Premier institution of civil society, promoting democracy in the
workplace, economic and social justice and equality
Unions – the myth
• Hard fought union
recognition campaign
• Lots of worker
dissatisfaction
• Abusive anti-union
management
• Need 50% plus 1 vote for
union to win recognition
• Board certifies union as
bargaining agent
• Dignity, empowerment –
voice & respect for workers
• We live happily ever after…
Unions – the reality
• Vast majority of union
members today did not
participate in an
“organizing” campaign.
• They simply “discover”
they are union members –
as a result of getting a job.
Lighting the Union Fire
The leadership skill of getting
co-workers involved in the
union and moving them from
“fair share” or passive “dues
payers” to active, engaged
members and fellow leaders
is called
ORGANIZING
"In democratic countries,
knowledge of how to combine
is the mother of all other forms of knowledge;
on its progress depends that of all the others."
Alexis De Tocqueville
What Do Unions Do?
We construct a community of interest among workers and
with the community and struggle for economic and social
justice and equality
Organizing:
the Knowledge of How to Combine
• Organizing is building power through
building relationships
• Democracy requires an organized
citizenry with the power to articulate
and assert its interests effectively.
• Organizing is how people combine to
act on common interests.
The craft of organizing is about identifying shared interests,
forging a community prepared to act on those interests
and building power from a united community.
Focus on the Local Union
•
•
•
•
Where members join the union
Where members experience the union
Where members become involved in the union
Where members shape the character of the union
The keystone of the union – because it’s the
springboard for membership participation
and leadership development (unions,
political, community…)
Building the Capacity of Local Unions
• Move from staff/officer centered union
to member centered organizations
• Priority of everyone must be on developing
leaders at all levels of the organization
• Focus on building capacity of locals and the skills of
local leaders
• Requires a focus on how things are done as much as
what is done (learning to “light fires” vs “putting
them out”)
• Focus on putting the movement back into the labor
movement
Leaders Light Union Fires
The leadership skill of getting
co-workers involved in the
union and moving them from
“fair share” or passive “dues
payers” to active, engaged
members and fellow leaders
is called
ORGANIZING
THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT
THE FUTURE
IS TO CREATE IT