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Manufacturing Job Loss Undermines Union Gains

April 2001 IBEW Journal

Employment losses in the heavily unionized manufacturing sector in the year 2000 halted the small but steady gains unions had been making in U.S. membership, according to the annual report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The AFL-CIO said the manufacturing losses continued a three-year downturn since the Asian economic crisis began in early 1998.

Over a three-year period, U.S. unions have a net gain of 150,000 members, 16.26 million now compared to 16.48 million in 1999, 16.21 million in 1998 and 16.11 million in 1997. About 81 percent of U.S. union members are in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

IBEW membership grew by more than 10,000 during the year measured by the BLS, despite the same problems faced by other unions in branches like manufacturing. That growth followed an almost identical increase in 1999, so the IBEW is up almost 20,000 since the end of 1999. IBEW construction membership continues to climb to all-time highs above 300,000 and utility employment has leveled off after the reductions related to restructuring in the mid-1990s.

Nationally, some 400,000 workers formed unions in organizing efforts in the year 2000, but thats a drop from the 600,000 of 1999 and 400,000 was not enough to offset losses elsewhere. "Unions need 500,000 to 1 million new members a year in order to grow in a changing economy," the federation said.

The AFL-CIO predicts that some organizing trends will mean future gains because "shifts in union membership by gender, race and sector indicate unions are moving with the economy." Union membership increased by 152,000 among women and by 58,000 among professionals, the AFL-CIO said. Also, the latest National Labor Relations Board figures show that the victory rate for unions in representation elections in the first half of 2000 was higher than in the same period in 1999.