Drop in U.A.W. Roles Reflect Automakers? Problems
Membership in the United Auto Workers union has fallen below 500,000 for the first time since World War II, reflecting the restructuring undertaken by Detroit?s automakers. The union reported Friday in a filing with the Labor Department that it had 464,910 members by the end of 2007, compared with 538,448 at the end of 2006. UAW membership peaked in 1979 at 1.5 million but has been dropping ever since. Mike Smith, director of the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University in Detroit, said the last time the UAW had fewer than 500,000 members was in 1941. By 1945, membership had topped one million. The General Motors Corporation, the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler and their suppliers have cut tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs as foreign competition and a weak economy have slowed auto sales.
See "Drop in U.A.W. Roles Reflect Automakers? Problems", Associated Press, The New York Times, March 27, 2008