James Surowiecki of New Yorker magazine writes that in the heart of the Great Depression, millions of American workers joined a union, remaking the economy like never before.
And though businesses saw this as “grim news”, the general public’s appetite for worker protections was whetted substantially enough to support the movement, regardless of which side of the workforce they sat on. A Gallup poll from 1937 indicates as many as 70 per cent of Americans favoured unions, writes Surowiecki.
My, but times have changed. The recent recession that saw bailouts of the automotive unionized workforce was extremely unpopular on both sides of the border. Indeed, hostility toward labour unions is at a historic high, even during a time when it would seemingly be counter to their self-interests.
As pointed out in the article, part of this is due to the perception of the unionized public sector as overpaid bureaucrats, with fully indexed pensions and benefits that are choking our budgets. People in North America have an all-time low opinion of the the kind of organizations that negotiate annual pay raises for teachers, garbage collectors and city workers.
I think this reflects the ongoing collapse of the socialist economic model, which rose to prominence in the early part of the last century, at which time it competed with other ideologies for supremacy. The lingering effects of that model are so repudiated that the insinuations of President Obama’s policies as being inherently socialist are seen as negative, even by those who self-identify with the “left”.
There is also, as Surowiecki observes, the perception that unions too greedily lapped up power and have been reluctant to relinquish it back to the people whom they purport to represent. The very workers who, in part, pay the salaries of the public sector, see their own employment undermined by the constant demands of the unionized force.
Unions have also provided an inorganic inflationary rate in the economy, demanding cost of living increases even during economic stagnation or when the tax base is unable to afford such demands. The recent negotiations across Canada with unionized teacher federations have demonstrated their inflexibility with such economic realities.
As far back as Stats Canada recorded unionization, 16 per cent of non-agricultural workers in 1921, it shows a steady growth, surpassing 20 per cent in 1942. The rate of unionization continued to expand, particularly in the public sector, reaching 30.3 by 1948, and holding steady until the 70′s. By 1975 the rate was as high as 36.8.
Union ranks rose from 2.8 million in 1977 to just over 4 million by 2003. This 43 per cent growth, however, has not kept pace with the increase to the workforce itself, meaning that unionization membership as a percentage of the workforce has declined. After rising from 32.6 per cent in 1977 to 34.2 per cent in 1987, the rate levelled off.
Membership was at 34.6 per cent in 1997. The most recent statistics (2009) shows it has dropped below 30 per cent for the first time in decades. This graph accurately depicts the fall, even through the most recent recession.
It’s also bad news for unions when you break down the demographics. In 2009 the percent of unionized workers for those aged 55-64 was 38.2. That dropped to 34 per cent for those in the 25-54 workforce, and as low as 16.4 per cent for those aged 15-24. As the younger non-unionized workers become the mainstream tax base, those levels should continue to decline. Of interest, 2009 marked the first time in history that more female workers in Canada were unionized than male workers.
How this bodes for Canada’s most well-known labour party, the NDP, remains to be seen. Though membership continues to grow, their presence as a portion in the workforce will decline, and in turn should minimize the power they hold in both the economy and Canadian politics.
[Note — this piece also appears in the National Post]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Bestdeal, Adrian MacNair. Adrian MacNair said: Workers of the world, you're on your own! http://bit.ly/g8EmSz In which I describe the decline and fall of union power in Canada [...]
I have to respond to this. I am a unionized worker, I have also been a non-unionized worker, self-employed and a few other things. Bottom line is that you would not want to work for the government if there was no union, big organization chew up and eat people, even when there is no malice involved, sort of like the elephant in the china shop metaphor. Throw in malice and it can get really bad. In my view unions are a creation and a logical development of the poor management of companies in the early 20th century.
Now the problem for unions is that a lot has changed, but they have been reluctant to do so as well. The smaller unions have been more flexible and open to adaptive change. The larger ones are not. From what I see there is a total disconnect from the union membership and the leadership. The leadership is highly politically and do not fully represent it’s members interests and does not want to hear criticism from members of their actions.
Another issue is law, thanks to some creative management types that formed fake unions, the laws regarding what a union must do for it’s members are quite rigid. I remember one incident where the shop steward had to defend a useless dirtbag who the steward would rather take into the ally and lay into him, than to help, but their hands were tied. A union must defend all of their members equally under the law, or be held liable.
My sister was a labour adjudicator she told me that the worst employers were actually unions and they were always busy screwing each other around. It’s my belief that unions have no place in small businesses 25 people or less, possible use in larger companies up to 100 and after that I would say almost certainly needed. There are some very large companies that work without unions, but they also grant nearly the same wages and benefits as the union ones.
Unions need to encourage their workers to make the companies they work for more productive and drop useless rules that block innovation and be adaptable. I did work for BC Ferries for 1 year, what horrible work place, the management and union were out to screw it each other, just because. Also the union had made it so you could not do anything outside your job description, so you had little chance to learn new stuff. I was happy to quit there and work for the Coast Guard
Check out this piece on, perhaps, why unions will continue to decline (okay… I wrote it.)
http://www.straight.com/article-360483/vancouver/take-job-and-fix-it
BC is dead last, of all the provinces. BC had the most job losses, because of the HST. 15000 more job losses in January. BC people are spending millions in the U.S.A. because of the HST. People by the Alberta border, shop there because, of the HST. Small businesses are still closing their doors, because of the HST. Where are the jobs, Campbell and Hansen promised, that the HST would generate? Well, we are losing jobs instead, because of the HST. Where is the money, we were to save, by the HST? My cost of living went way up. BC is a province of natural resources, the HST does squat, for the BC citizens. Besides which, BC’s HST goes directly to Campbell’s best buddy, snake in the grass, Harper. And, that’s the last we have seen of our HST. Pffft, gone. Our BCR was thieved and sold, by Campbell. You know, the election lie, the railroad that wasn’t for sale. Our rivers, were thieved and sold by Campbell, resulting, our hydro will go up by 55%. The election lie, the HST wasn’t on Campbell and Hansen’s radar. Hansen finally admitted, the HST radar papers were on his desk, before the election. The HST radar papers, got to Harper, faster than the speed of light. BC is the most corrupt province in Canada. The BC Liberals, are the most corrupt government, in the history of this country. BC is dying, because, of a premier, that has thieved every thing out of this province, he has laid his hands on. He puts an asinine tax, on people who don’t even have jobs, because of him. 51 mills closed. Some mills, were shipped to China, along with our raw logs. Campbell has cost our, BC mill workers 36.000 jobs lost.