“The Decline of the Labor Movement”

1. “The Decline of the Labor Movement” Patricia Cayo Sexton

2. US Labor Relations • War in Labor/Left: • War on labor has been waged in the US for well over a century. It began again in the 1950s and was accelerated in the 1970 and 1980s. • Result: decline in “union ‘density’ (the unionized share of the work force) • Union Percentage of the Workforce: • 1950: 36% • 1989: 16%

3. US Labor Relations Labor Decline in US in Comparative Terms: 1990s

4. Labor Repression: Worst in US • Causes of Union Decline (319) • Why have union declined at such a faster rate in the US than in other countries? • Two common claims: • 1) Was it because of public disapproval? • 2) Because of the behavior of unions themselves?

5. US Labor Relations • Public Approval: It has Increased • Public approval of US unions climbed between 6 %...between 1981 and 1988. • Have Unions Incited Hostility by Demanding Wage Increases • Wages in the US are low in comparative terms.

6. Employers, Government, Repression (319) • Wage Gap: • The gap between what union and non-union employees make gives employers an incentive to target unions, and to hire non-union workers. • Moreover, a favorable legal environment makes it easy for employers to work against unions. In Canada, where wages are quite high, you do not see the attack on unions because there are laws to protect them.

7. Employers, Government, Repression (319) • Employers and Anti-Labor Laws: Supported and Encouraged • To attack Unions. • “In the end, then, union decline is caused, not by excessive wage • demands, but by employer efforts to repress unionism and • employer inspired laws that allowed them to do so.” • Public Sector Penetration (319) • Reasons the public sector is small in the US (compared to Canada) is because economic elites have opposed it.

8. Employers, Government, Repression (319) • Closings and Cutbacks (320) • Closings and cutbacks account for much of the Union decline in the US. In many other countries (Japan, West Germany, France, UK) laws were passed in the 1980s that “sharply restricted such closings.” • Comparative Labor Law • In the US (and Canada) the absence of such laws led to massive closings and cutbacks. Any econ. Elites resisted any attempt to pass such favorable labor legislation in the US. • Example: Japan • Workers can and are culturally encouraged to sue when plants are closed or relocated. This happened to Proctor and Gamble in the 1980s.

9. Labor Law • Labor Relations and Labor Law (320) • US labor practices and laws in the 1970s and 1980s exemplify what aggressive anti-labor practices look like: employers targeted union organizers, fired union activists, turned against collective bargaining, and sought to counter (with “aggressive and expensive campaigns) to discourage people from joining unions. • In Canada, laws were passed banning such harsh anti-union labor practices.

10. Political Context • Canadian and US Law • In Canada, unions have thrived, while in the US they have declined. The reasons for the difference are the presence of laws in Canada protecting workers rights. In Canada, for example, it is easy to get a union recognized. In the US, it is very difficult. • West Germany (322) • There have been fewer closings and cutbacks, and laws exist limiting worker layoffs and restraining deregulation. This is a result of strong unions, a social democratic party and econ. Elite not hostile to labor.

11. Political Context • US: Union Decline Because No Union Politics • Neocorporatism and Tripartitism (321) • Unique Absence of Labor Parties (322) • Labor strength depends on the success of its politics, and its politics depend on the strength of the unions and collective bargaining.

12. Political Context • No Labor Party in US (322) • Social Democratic Politics: Policy Positions (323) • Consequences of US Union Decline (324)