Though union membership declined slightly in 2000, union efforts in recent years to recruit new members offer hope for a revitalized union movement.

Union membership showed a net gain of 150,000 workers over the past three years, reflecting the AFL-CIO’s greater emphasis on organizing. The fastest membership growth is occurring among women and minorities.

“While we’ve made great progress in turning the tide, we’re clearly not where we need to be,” said AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney.

“Every union needs to do more” Sweeney said. “We need to refocus and rededicate ourselves to ensuring that every working person who wants a union in this nation has that opportunity.”

Union membership stood at a 60-year low as the percentage of union workers has decreased from 13.9 percent of the labor force in 1999 to 13.5 percent, or 16.3 million workers, in 2000, according to a January report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unions face particularly hard times in the private sector, where membership has fallen to below 9 percent. This reflects weak enforcement of labor rights by government agencies and long-term problems in the manufacturing sector, which continues to be hurt by foreign competition, outsourcing (contracting-out) and factory closings.

Public sector growth
On the other hand, membership in the public sector increased last year to 37.5 percent of all government workers from 37.3 percent in 1999.

Another hopeful sign is that union win rates in National Labor Relations Board elections increased during the first six months of 2000, compared to the previous year, according to the BLS.

Under a plan adopted in August, the AFL-CIO set a long-term goal of signing up 1 million new members each year. To maintain its current level of membership, the labor movement must recruit 500,000 members a year.

As part of this thrust, the labor movement is encouraging affiliates to devote a larger part of their resources to organizing. At its convention last year in Philadelphia, DC 37’s parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, established a goal of focusing 30 percent of its resources on organizing.

AFSCME added about 23,000 new members to its ranks in 2000, according to Jim Schmitz, director of organizing and field services.

“Hopefully these numbers that the Bureau of Labor Statistics put out will make people change, or we are doomed as a labor movement,” Schmitz said. “We have to redouble our efforts.”

Schmitz noted that the labor movement’s successes in the November elections occurred in states with a large union presence. That suggests that the movement’s long-term survival depends upon aggressive organizing and political action, Schmitz said.