by Mike Hall, Jan 28, 2010
For the
second year in a row, the percentage of workers who
belong to a union grew, according to the annual survey of
union membership released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS).
In 2008, union membership grew by 428,000,
increasing the percentage of union members in the workforce
to 12.4 percent, up from 12.1 percent in 2007. Overall, 16.1
million workers carry union cards.
Union membership, AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney
says, is especially valuable to working families as the
nations economy is in the worst recession in decades.
Todays numbers confirm what many
working people already know: that if given the chance,
American workers are choosing to join unions in larger
numbers. Workers in unions are much more likely to have
health care benefits and a pension than those without a
union; in todays economy, thats the difference between
sinking and swimming.
The BLS survey also reports on the union
advantage workers receive on payday. In 2008, full-time
union workers earned a median weekly salary of $886 while
nonunion workers were paid 28 percent less per week, $691.
Some 60
million workers say they would join a union if they had
the opportunity. But when workers try to form unions through
the flawed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) process,
employers routinely respond with threats, intimidation,
firings and harassment.
Of the 311,000 new workers who joined
unions in 2007, the latest year for which such figures are
available, only 70,000 workers were able to form a union
through the NLRB process. Today, most workers who form new
unions do so after their employer has agreed to recognize
their union through a majority sign-up processa major
provision of the
Employee Free Choice Act.
The Employee Free Choice Act would restore
the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain for a
better life. While some 78 percent of the public support the
legislation, Big Business is waging a multimillion-dollar disinformation
campaign against the bill.
On top of that, congressional Republicans
are vowing to kill the workers rights legislation. They
have even gone so far as to threaten to block President
Barack Obamas choice of
Hilda Solis as secretary of labor. Says
Sweeney:
In
todays economy, Americas working men and women
need a fair shot at forming a union, now more than ever.
The Employee Free Choice Act will give workers the
freedom to bargain with their employers for better
benefits, wages, and job security, and it will allow
themnot their companyto decide how to form their
union.
Union growth was broadly shared across
demographic lines and occupations. Growth was strongest in
the public sector, among Hispanics, and in Western states.
Click here for the full
report, including a demographic breakdown of union
membership by occupation, race, gender, state and more.
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Oregon Carpenters'
Local Endorses HR 676
Portland, Oregon. Carpenters' Local 247 has endorsed HR 676, single
payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers
(D-MI).
An informal group of union members from different crafts, calling
themselves Cross Trade Solidarity, has organized to push for endorsements
of the Conyers legislation in Portland area locals.
HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system in the U.S. by
expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to every resident.
HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical
care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient
services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental
health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for
substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care.
HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save billions
annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private
health insurance industry and HMOs.
In the 110th Congress, HR 676 had 93 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers
HR 676 has been endorsed by 481 union organizations in 49 states including
118 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 state
AFL-CIO's (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO,
MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI,
MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).
For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample
endorsement resolution, contact:
Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org |
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