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5 U D 0 K U

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

DID YOU KNOW ? THE DECLINE OF UNIONS MAY BE TIED TO INCOME INEQUALITY?

This first Labor Day celebration was organized and executed on Sept. 5, 1882 by New York’s Central Labor Union. According to the Library of Congress, “it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions.” Since then, the power of unions has declined in the U.S. According to “The Decline of American Unions Is a Threat to Public Health” by Michael J Wright, “In 1953, 35.7% of private sector workers belonged to unions. By 2015, that number was 6.7%. Some of this decline has been mitigated by public-sector unionization, but even with the public sector, overall union membership is at 11.3%. Meanwhile, inequality has soared to levels not seen since the 1920s. In 1978 the top 1% of Americans garnered 8.9% of all U.S. income; by 2007, their share had risen to 23.5%.” A 2018 study by Princeton and Columbia economists found that since the 1930s, “unionized workers have made about 15-20% more than similarly educated workers. Unions are able gain this extra compensation by exerting collective power for workers who individually have little bargaining power,” according to Quartz.

Sources: https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/september-05/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4880254/ https://qz.com/1542019/union-membership-in-the-us-keeps-on-falling-like-almost-everywhere-else/

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