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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/108236
RETAIL OPERATIONS UnIOn MeMBeRSHIP RaTe DROPPeD In 2012 the perCent oF wage and saLary worKers who were members oF a union in 2012 was 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.4 million, also declined over the year. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent, and there were 17.7 million union workers. The data on union membership were collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian non-institutional population ages 16 and over. HeRe aRe SOMe HIgHlIgHTS fROM THe 2012 DaTa: • Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (35.9 percent) more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.6 percent). • Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (23.2 percent), and North Carolina again had the lowest rate (2.9 percent). • In 2012, 7.3 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.0 million union workers in the private sector. • Private-sector industries with high unionization rates included transportation and utilities (20.6 percent) and construction (13.2 percent). • By age, the union membership rate was highest among workers ages 55 to 64 (14.9 percent). The lowest union membership rate occurred among those ages 16 to 24 (4.2 percent). • Full-time workers were about twice as likely as part-time workers to be union members, 12.5 percent compared with 6.0 percent. • In 2012, 15.9 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union. This group includes both union members (14.4 million) and workers who report no union affiliation, but whose jobs are covered by a union contract (1.6 million). Private-sector employees comprised about half (814,000) of the 1.6 million workers who were covered by a union contract, but were not members of a union. 2 JaNuary/February 2013 2013 Wheeless said. Unions drive their own agenda— oftentimes to the detriment of the workforce. For instance, instead of individual employees advancing based on skill and ability, Wheeless said, the union model means "having to wait around year after year to advance based on seniority." Employers should make that point and others in a meeting with employees, Wheeless said, recommending an initial orientation meeting and annual 30-minute refresher sessions. The financial impact of unions on employers is another key point to make to employees. "Employees need to know what's going on when a union shows up and starts promising them a dollar-an-hour increase, plus a defined pension benefit plan, plus guaranteed job security and guaranteed hours and guaranteed overtime," Wheeless said. If employees have not been educated in these matters, Wheeless said, "they are susceptible to that pie-inthe-sky message that unions will market to employees for weeks or sometimes even months before the employer even knows that the union is trying to organize the workforce." At that point employers have a tough challenge to persuade employees that unionizing is against their best interests. On offense employers must focus on "beating the union at their own game," Wheeless said, "which is to engage the workforce in a positive, proactive manner so that they feel an affiliation with management and a part of a team environment, a team mindset, rather than an 'us-versusthem' mindset." Nagle said, "The basic dynamics of maintaining a union-free environment are still the same. I call them the basic blocking and tackling of employer-employee relations." They include: providing a positive working environment; soliciting and responding to employee concerns in the workplace; and "generally avoiding creating the conditions that would lead people to think that they need a union to represent them." He added, "It's sort of an article of faith among management consultants that the only businesses that get unionized are the ones that deserve to be." What makes a business deserving, Nagle said, includes: an abusive supervisor, issues of discrimination and harassment; and wages and benefits that are "grossly substandard." Another mark against an employer is if employees feel that they don't have a voice, that management doesn't care about their concerns, Nagle said. "Those are the circumstances that lead employees to reach out to unions for help." NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com