{"id":92873,"date":"2023-02-21T13:53:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T17:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=92873"},"modified":"2023-02-21T13:53:51","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T17:53:51","slug":"why-is-union-membership-declining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-is-union-membership-declining\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Union Membership Declining & Are Unions Still Relevant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is union membership declining? Are labor unions still relevant today? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. union memberships are at an all-time low, but Americans\u2019 support for them is at a record high. Though unions are optimistic about their future, some argue that they have considerable work ahead and significant obstacles to overcome to rebuild their ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn why union membership is declining despite increased support in the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Union Membership Is Declining\u2014Why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, U.S. union memberships dropped to an all-time low<\/a>: 10.1 percent (14.3 million workers). Yet, today, unions are bullish about the prospect of building their ranks<\/a>, with a 71% approval rate<\/a> among Americans\u2014the highest in more than a half century\u2014and a wave of unprecedented organizing efforts<\/a> at Amazon, Starbucks, and Apple. So, why is union membership declining even when union supporters are betting on a comeback? Could it be that the tide is turning for organized labor, and that unions will reclaim the base and clout they once had?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll provide a brief history of unions and some of the problems they have faced, then we’ll examine why union membership is declining by looking at both the arguments supporting the rebirth of labor unions and those that claim unions have considerable work ahead to regain the status they once enjoyed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Brief History of Unions <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Labor unions in the U.S. have been around since the country\u2019s founding<\/a>. Created to protect workers and end exploitative practices, they played a key role in stopping child labor; helped workers achieve higher wages and greater workplace safety protections; and narrowed the wage gap for women and workers of color<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Problems Have They Faced?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the classic 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom<\/a><\/em>, Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman<\/a> explains some of the problems that have notoriously afflicted labor unions, which could help explain why union membership is declining, including labor monopolies and decreasing wages for non-unionized industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labor Monopolies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A labor monopoly is when a set of workers in an industry gains full control of its labor market. <\/strong>This is usually achieved through labor unions and \u201cclosed-shop\u201d contracts, which stipulate that all employees hired by management must be members of the union (a topic we explored in the last chapter). With a labor monopoly, unions can demand higher wages of employers, the costs of which ultimately get passed along to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with industrial monopolies, however, labor monopolies are rare. The vast majority of unions simply lack the kind of leverage necessary to exert this level of control. But even without a monopoly, there is a special danger that a heavily unionized workforce in a key industry can collude with the owners of capital in that industry (who would traditionally be the adversaries of labor) to drive up prices for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is precisely what happened with the United Mine Workers (UMW) and the coal companies during the 1930s. The UMW scheduled strikes or work stoppages in order to halt the production of coal whenever the supply of coal in the market got too high. This had the effect of driving prices of coal up\u2014with the union and the mine owners sharing in the profits of this collusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wage Depressors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Although labor monopolies are rare, unions still influence the structure of the economy in important ways. Because of their collective bargaining power, unions drive up the price of labor in the industries where they are most prevalent. But by raising the \u201cprice\u201d of labor, unions drive down the demand <\/em>for labor in those industries\u2014just as price increases in any industry cause buyers to either reduce overall demand or seek substitutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By reducing employment in one sector, unions then drive people to seek work in other sectors. This makes the labor markets in those <\/em>sectors more competitive. Because employers in those industries have more workers competing over the same number of jobs, the result is to reduce wages in those non-unionized industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labor unions tend to be most prevalent and powerful in those industries that feature a highly skilled labor force (which would likely receive higher wages even without the union) and weakest in those industries dominated by a low-skill workforce. Thus, the real effect of unions is to enrich highly skilled, highly paid labor at the direct expense of unskilled workers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unions: Betting on a Comeback<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unions see a bright future ahead despite the fact that membership is declining recently, arguing that the pandemic fundamentally altered Americans\u2019 relationship with work<\/a> and ongoing strikes positively impacted the public\u2019s perception of organized labor<\/a>\u2014trends they expect to continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union supporters say that front-line workers, the heroic if beleaguered face of functioning society when COVID-19 shut down the broader U.S. economy, came to represent and reflect resentment that many Americans feel about getting paid low salaries and being treated poorly on the job, particularly as corporations profit in the billions. In 2022: <\/p>\n\n\n\n