Prospects for Union Growth in the United States in the Early 21st Century

Bruce E. Kaufman

Chapter 4 in Unions in the 21st Century, 2004, pp 44-60 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract At we progress into a new century it seems particularly appropriate to ponder on the future of one of America’s most important social and economic institutions – the organised labour movement. Recent years have been hard on American unions. Union density has suffered a slow but cumulatively significant decline, falling from 34 per cent in the mid-1950s to 13 per cent today. In the U.S. private sector, where the great bulk of jobs are, union density has fallen even lower (9%). Certainly the old century did not end, and the new century begin, on a very auspicious note when the New York Times (January 21, 2001: 18), in reporting on the Department of Labour’s survey of union membership, led off the article with this title: ‘Unions Hit Lowest Point in Six Decades’.

Keywords: Collective Bargaining; Union Membership; Union Density; Union Growth; Union Service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-52458-3_4

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230524583_4

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