As union leaders meet in Florida this week, they received grim news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics who released their annual report on union membership yesterday. As expected, union membership had dropped to its lowest level in over two decades. Part of the decline is blamed on the effects of the terrorist attacks, which resulted in a loss of transportation jobs - an industry that is heavily unionized. Manufacturing has also lost 1.9 million jobs in the last two years. To combat the losses, the AFL-CIO is exploring the possibility of offering affiliate memberships, which provides all union benefits except for collective bargaining or grievance protections.
See "Union Membership in U.S. Hits New Low", The Associated Press, The New York Times, February 25, 2003