Friday, January 28, 2011

11.9....


The percentage of American workers in unions last year, the lowest proportion in more than 70 years, according to the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of workers in unions fell by 612,000 last year, to 14.7 million. About 20 percent of workers were in unions in 1983; the figure was 35 percent during the mid-1950s, according to labor historians. Last year “was a very tough year for unionized workers,” said John Schmitt, a senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “We’re seeing declines in the private sector, and we’re seeing declines in the public sector.”

Can anyone anywhere really believe that the corresponding stagnation of worker wages and rise in corporate profits are actually unrelated?

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