Human Resources: Executive Summary: Labor Relations

Despite the fact that labor unions are facing declining membership rates and a looming threat of job loss to the overseas market, union negotiations in the U.S. were typically less contentious in 2003 than one might expect. The parties that gathered around recent bargaining tables seemed more interested in preserving jobs rather than positioning themselves for new gains.

The economy, of course, affected wage adjustments during 2003 contract negotiations, with 40% of employers planning increases of 3.0% to 3.9% in the first year of contracts, according to a BNA survey. Insurance benefits were viewed as a major topic to be negotiated, with rising healthcare costs driving 43% of employers to ask union workers to take on higher premium contributions, co-payments or deductibles. Significant changes to pension plans and leave benefits, however, were expected to receive less attention than in 2002.

For almost two decades, union membership rates in the U.S. have been on the decline, falling by almost half since 1983. The percentage of union members among U.S. wage and salary workers in 2002 was 13.2%, or 16.1 million workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a comparison, union members comprised one third of the labor force in 1955. Most Canadian jurisdictions, other than British Columbia, also saw a decline in the total unionized workforce in 2002, according to Ogilvy Renault, a labor and employment law group.

But labor is counteracting those falling rates with increased attempts at organizing workers. The number of union elections in the U.S. rose in 2002, as did the percentage of those elections that were won by unions. Over half (55.9%) of union elections held in 2002 were won by unions, up from 54.1% in 2001. The union win rate was particularly notable in AFL-CIO elections (excluding Teamsters), where the success rate increased from 54.1% in 2001 to 58.3% in 2002. Unions have been winning over half of elections in each of the past six years, according to a BNA analysis of data from the National Labor Relations Board, and that success rate has been increasing since 1996.

Labor is broadening its reach, too. No longer just the voice of blue-collar workers, unions signed on white-collar workers in record numbers in 2002. Almost 30% of the AFL-CIO's new recruits are professional and related workers, such as teachers, engineers and doctors.

In addition, the AFL-CIO has created an affiliate for nonunion workers, a decision that has generated some debate. The union itself sees the new group - Working America - as a way to tap into the lobbying power of people who support the cause of unions but are not union workers themselves. "There are many more nonunion people with extremely pro-union attitudes than there are union people," said Harvard University labor economist Richard Freeman. While asking for financial contributions is part of the plan, AFL-CIO officials also hope nonunion workers will join demonstrations to show support of issues. Others, however, see the move as a sign that unions are running scared. Rutgers University labor expert Leo Troy said, "Attempts like this are only a diversion of their resources. It only further weakens them because they are diverting manpower and money from organizing to something that won't necessarily produce results."

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