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Today’s number: 27 percent

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We tend to think of the drastic decline in unions as an inevitable consequence of technological change and globalization, but one need look no further than Canada to see that this isn’t true. Once upon a time, around a third of workers in both the US and Canada were union members; today, US unionization is down to 11 percent, while it’s still 27 percent north of the border. The difference was politics: US policy turned hostile toward unions in the 1980s, while Canadian policy didn’t follow suit.

Discuss.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:13 am

Comments

We have the Teflon President to thank for that.

Comment by Dome Gnome Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:16 am
So, I guess no point threatening to move to Canada if the governor’s union-busting agenda isn’t passed.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:18 am
Tail. Wagging. Dog.

Comment by Slugger O'Toole Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:24 am
It all started with the air traffic controllers and Reagan. That why he is the gold standard for Republicans, an icon. He defined Republicanism. They do it because Reagan showed them they could “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”, asked Reagan. Are we better off now than you were 35 years ago? Not

Comment by ottawa otter Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:24 am
Rich your numbers are for private sector unions. Public sector unions are at 34% (I think that was the number. Super busy today and don’t have time to support my facts). My point is that that’s why the emphasis and attack is on public sector unions. Rauner is represents the front line of the final assault on labor.

Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:26 am
The unions might want to show their “softer side”

I don’t think middle class people whose incomes are also suffering can relate to people like Karen Lewis rallying a group of people with giant fists on their signs and sportswear. They also might want to choose a different color than red- the color of communism.

They are preaching to the choir not the people outside the church

Comment by Lucky Pierre Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:27 am
I don’t get the PATCO connection some are making. The steep decline has been in private sector, not public sector unions.

There are two air traffic controller unions, I believe, that collectively bargain with the FAA — NATCA and PACO.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:32 am
=Public sector unions are at 34%=

It’s a catch 22. The more money you spend for public sector unions, it puts private sector unions at a disadvantage in a 21st Century economy.

At the same time when you want to move jobs to Mexico and China without any tariffs or regulations in place, it’s impossible to compete with developing economies. It’s a huge loss for the middle class.

Comment by Almost the Weekend Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:33 am
I suppose one could make the argument that the American labor force is more gullible. I think that the way that the Canadian government interceded at the beginning of the 19th century in their own version of the large labor related protests is likely the cause of this change.

The United States effectively forced business to pick up the cost of things like healthcare for their workers directly, while the Canadian government offered to cover healthcare for the workers while taxing both the employers and the workers for it.

The end result is that because the costs for labor are indirect, there is less pressure on the company to gut it’s labor budget as the cost for healthcare and other benefits provided by employers in the United States would be fixed since it’s built into the taxation.

This has created an interesting situation where in the United States, healthcare provided by the government for medicare, medicaid, and government employee healthcare is going to be about 7.5% of GDP, which is comparable to the costs of healthcare for the entire nation in countries that utilize single payer or single provider.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:36 am
Canada has had to suffer from the scourge of a longer life expectancy, highly livable large cities, lower levels if violent crime and less wealth inequality (Gini coefficient). It’s an example of the kind of post apoloyptic wasteland Rauner is trying to save us from with his anti union policies. Worse, their policies drove out Justin Bieber. (Do I really need to label this comment as snark?)

Comment by AC Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:36 am
One outcome of Canada’s higher unionization rate is that its middle class is more prosperous than America’s. Consider these articles discussing how the Canadian middle class is more affluent than the American middle class. Other factors contribute too (e.g. affordable housing), but higher wages, influenced in part by unions plays a big role.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-the-us-middle-class-is-falling-behind-canadas/

Comment by Scamp640 Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:39 am
Very true, along with no labor history being taught at any level of school, wealthy donors to colleges and universities demanding the business school teach a very anti-union philosophy.

Along with labor unions being resistant to change and educate the public on there benefits, have lead to the perfect storm for this decline over the last 35 to 40 years.

Comment by Augie Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:42 am
Check out Robert Reich’s latest book, Saving Capitalism. It tells about the the unpleasant ways America has changed. The biggest change is the huge income inequality, which is partly due to the decline in labor unions.

Comment by Enviro Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:42 am
Canada also hasn’t been dominated by the financial industry the same was as the U.S. since Gramm-Leach-Bliley. As shown by our current Governor the industry is mostly run by folks without the ability to create or innovate, so their only solutions to increase profit are lower wages, higher prices, and poorer quality work.

Comment by Daniel Plainview Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:44 am
Very well said Honeybear. Unfortunately, I perceive that Mr. Rauner and his corporate elite class backers are doing a better job than pro-labor forces in terms of public messaging. AFSCME needs do a much better job of messaging. The public needs to be convinced that the diminishment of organized labor combined with supply side economic policies results in a diminished middle class and lower standard of living for all but the wealthiest.

Comment by kitty Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:51 am
==They also might want to choose a different color than red- the color of communism==

Oh please. Just stop.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:51 am
But but but the taxes! Ontario’s lowest rate is 5.05% and goes up to a mind blowing 13.16%! People are leaving in droves because the taxes are so high!!

Yes, this is snark.

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:54 am
It seems that most of the difference in unionization rates between Canada and the US is in the public sector. This report shows that private sector unionization in Canada has declined from 21% in 1997 to 17% in 2012, with the public sector being unionized at a 74% rate. http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/labour-demographics/
I’m not sure this proves what Paul Krugman is suggesting.

Comment by Lycurgus Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:59 am
==They also might want to choose a different color than red- the color of communism==

Also the color of the St. Louis Cardinals, Santa Claus and Rudolph’s nose. What color are the states that vote Republican on most political maps?

Comment by olddog Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:00 am
–… red, the color of communism.–

LP is on it.

I knew there was something fishy about that St. Louis baseball team. Sure, they try to hide behind the “Cardinals,” but the true believers call them the “Red Birds.”

I mean, c’mon — Red Schoendienst? Enos Slaughter? You don’t fool me, comrades.

Don’t even get me started on that Cincinatti team…..

…. and those “Red States.”

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:02 am
I wonder if corporate interests had more incentive to mobilize against unions in the U.S. because of the lack of national healthcare in the U.S. Unions in Canada would mostly just stick to wage issues but the U.S. unions could make wage and healthcare costs go up at once. Just a thought. Of course corporate interests beung stronger in the U.S. than Canada is why we lacked national health insurance to begin with…

Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:04 am
Union membership in Illinois is about 16% above the national average. What is your point?

Comment by Apocalypse Now Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:06 am
Patco was the first time other unions crossed the picket line. Reagan refused to negotiate and said your fired.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:08 am
lucky the inion employees are also the middle class thats why when they eliminated unions in wi and ia they saw median income drop and middle class shrink.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:09 am
==middle class people whose incomes are also suffering can (not) relate to Karen Lewis==

And that exactly is the point. Why don’t middle class people whose incomes are suffering joining people like Karen Lewis and demanding that their CEOs stop hogging profits while slashing worker salaries? Grow backbones private sector people—instead of dragging other middle class workers into the gutter with you. People are looking at the wrong people in this downward spiral of the middle class.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:10 am
“Reagan refused to negotiate and said your fired.” Well, he refused to negotiate because PATCO struck illegally and he ordered them back to work or be fired. That’s different from what Rauner is trying to do.

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:11 am
=Union membership in Illinois is about 16% above the national average.=

Number is inflated when 95% of public sector workers are unionized. I would like to see private sector numbers.

Comment by Almost the Weekend Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:12 am
Unless it’s a public union you are talking about neither party will move an inch to support them. Unfortunate people cannot see the link between income inequality and the decline of unions.

Comment by Very Fed Up Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:24 am
“people like Karen Lewis”

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:25 am
I put the peak of US power at 1970. People had a middle class life on one income. The tax base from that middle class funded the space program,560,000 men in Vietnam, another 1 million elsewhere, a 600 ship Navy and a balanced budget. Now it takes two incomes to not be as well off as they were. Conservatives have this idea America will be prosperous if Americans just make less. The attack on public unions is a case of.. “hey,we forgot to screw those people!”.

Comment by Anotheretiree Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:27 am
What does it say for Illinois that a portion of the population wants to be Indiana and others want to be Canada?

Comment by Thunder Fred Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:29 am
===…. and those “Red States.”===

Blue states, blue uniforms, Cubs, liberals. Go Cards!

Comment by justacitizen Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:31 am
Don’t forget about the people who write the news stories (Not Rich) but like the editorial boards at the Chicago Tribune. Rauner tends to own them and tell them how to write their stories also.

Biased statistics or conspiracy theories tend to make people think a certain way at times to support far right ideology.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:37 am
==What does it say for Illinois that a portion of the population wants to be Indiana and others want to be Canada?==

The same thing that it says when voters support millionaire taxes, minimum wage increases, and a billionaire who wants to cut social services and decimate unions. The same thing that pollsters who continually find Illinoisan’s want lower taxes and more services to be funded by cutting waste which is defined as “other peoples programs”. The same reason 4 in 10 union households voted for Rauner.

We’ve lost our collective minds, the only explanation that makes any sense us that we don’t make any sense.

Comment by AC Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:38 am
I’ll add that many who want Illinois to be more like Indiana, and more like Canada are the same people, polls and elections support this supposition.

Comment by AC Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:41 am
Kitty, right on the money and it’s what I spent a week in activist training on this summer. Emphasis is on one on one communication, member to member, member to public.

Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:48 am
woops, turns out Rich was correct (I was corrected by a colleague via text) 11% is the overall average which includes the 34% public. Sorry if I “threw shade” there. The lobby is packed today with folks needing benefits. And sorry if someone already corrected this. I haven’t read all the posts.

Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:51 am
The reason nationally is difficult to pin point. In IL, the unions, especially public sector ones, are in decline because the union tied itself to the democrat party who has shifted to protecting the non working class over the working class.

Madigan and Quinn repeatedly passed budgets to cut teachers and state employes(250k+ union members), made their lives harder, and reduced collective bargaining. In essence, the unions left their members, the members are not leaving unions.

Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:52 am
Based on the US Census the bottom half of households have the same income in 2014 dollars as they did in 1987. After the same period the 60th percentile grew by 7%, the 80% percentile grew by 16% and the 95% grew by 28% in 2014 dollars. The data suggests that the middle class, defined as the 20%-80% range of incomes, has divided into a group where incomes have grown in real terms and a group where they have remained fixed. That in turn may be due to continued real wage growth for jobs requiring more education, but not for unskilled and semiskilled positions.

Comment by muon Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 10:55 am
@ the Patriot
I strongly disagree with your statement. Police and firefighter unions tend to vote with Republicans because they offer the mantra of “putting your life on the line”. Even in right to work states (where some public safety areas are exempt from the same rule the right tends to believe in but fails to mention) public safety areas are held to mandatory arbitration or meet and confer statutes. Just take a look at these amicus briefs showing the vast differences how membership percentages vary according to policy.

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/friedrichs-v-california-teachers-association/?wpmp_switcher=desktop

Comment by Heaven43 Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:01 am
I hope we all recognize the fearsome damage the Chicago FOP is causing labor in Illinois. At a time Madigan is fending off Rauner’s public sector union busting FOP is the poster child for collusion between labor and the Democratic party in Illinois. All Rauner has to do his post pictures of Van Dyke’s sinister look at bond out and the cause is lost.

Comment by ottawa otter Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:08 am
It’s odd that while the upper class is hell-bent on accumulating more as lower class numbers grow and the middle class falls behind and some join the lower class, dependent on “help” provided by tax dollars. You’d think the upper class would want a robust middle class. After all, the middle class is the workhorse of our society, obeying rules, paying their bills and most especially—-bearing the brunt of taxation. With a disappearing middle class, folks might just start turning their attention to taxing the wealthy more to provide for the growing lower class. Eliminating middle class taxpayers doesn’t seem to do much good for the plight of those who are able to pay more. They might just end up having to pick up the tab for those who used to pay it but are now dependent on those tax dollars to live. It seems this is the way we’re headed. And middle class wages have historically been protected by unions. Middle class workers should be thinking about unionizing to protect what they have and bargain for more, rather than working to get everyone in a sinking boat.

Comment by AnonymousOne Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:09 am
Can I just take this opportunity to plug the NY Review of Books. I just re-subscribed after a hiatus and it’s every bit as good as I remembered. A bit pricey, at around $75 a year, but it’s well worth it.

Comment by Sam Weinberg Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:10 am
Faulty comparison. Canada has roughly the same land mass as the US but roughly 10% of the population, for starters. It lacks the mega cities and the quantity of social ills resulting that the US bears. Weather also a factor. To draw conclusions regarding different levels of unionization between Canada and US without a super computer to factor in the differences appears specious, at best.

Comment by Cook County Commoner Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:19 am
AC, any ideas on how to get Justin Bieber back to Canada?

Comment by illinoised Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:22 am
“Ontario’s lowest rate is 5.05% and goes up to a mind blowing 13.16%!”
Canada’s Income tax rates starts at 15% and goes up to 29%. Also the VAT(GST) is up to 15%.

Comment by john doe Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:27 am
John Doe: Well, then point I was making was poking fun at people who say our tax payers are “tapped out” and “can’t afford” 5% because “our taxes are too high.” I’m sure we could look at other countries and see tax rates significantly higher than Canada’s as well. As for me, someone please raise my taxes back to 5%.

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:38 am
OK, lets establish I am no economist. But it seems pretty likely that the reckoning from globalization and free trade policies came down much harder on business and industry in the US than in Canada. US companies were forced to seek lower costs from suppliers and from labor. And all this occurred at the same time investors were demanding greater returns on investments and the quarterly reports became the holy grail. The effect was to hollow out the middle class and reduce the potential for longer term economic growth. Henry Fords’ idea of every man being able to earn enough to afford to buy his cars and every company looking out for the welfare of the local community were thrown into the dust bin of history. And this — the decline of the middle class — to a large degree is a factor in the budget hole impacting Illinois. So, yeah, Mr. Rauner, cut into the middle class further.

Comment by vole Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:51 am
==AC, any ideas on how to get Justin Bieber back to Canada?==

No, but I’d like for the US to exchange him for Arcade Fire, Win Butler is an American citizen after all. I’d definitely trade Bruce Rauner for Steven Harper.

Comment by AC Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:00 pm
The PATCO strike was an illegal strike and that’s how Reagan was able to fire them.

Comment by Union Man Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:04 pm
And unions do not tie themselves to a political party, they go with whoever they believe supports what’s best for its members, just like the NRA, the AMA, AAA, AARP….. It just happens that Republicans usually don’t give a flip for the working class, and right now the Dems are the default.

Comment by Union Man Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:07 pm
==right now the Dems are the default==

That’s certainly the case with 20 million more reasons why unions can’t support Republicans in Illinois. The big tent collapsed, not much room in there these days

Comment by AC Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:14 pm
@ Union Man
Unless like your Rauner who radically embraces fascism and offers a lighter side with his IllinoisGO PAC to “lighten up” the Democratic party by blaming the states woes on Madigan and offering seats on boards and commissions underneath his control on the state that influence public policy that agree with him (mostly) but at the same time says there is a conflict of interest with certain union heads he’s negating contracts with at the same time. Yeah, makes you really think about the union membership percentage in this state and nationwide…..

Comment by Heaven43 Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:16 pm
@vole 11:51; I wonder who the 1% think is going to buy their products and services. Henry Ford knew what he was doing.

Comment by JackD Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:21 pm
Canada is awash in natural resources and raw building supplies with a relatively low population, and a fairly well educated workforce; the country is also not constantly at war with itself. There’s a lot of $ up north that can absorb high wages and high taxes.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 12:32 pm
Thanks, Rich, for posting this. I assumed globalization and technology were bigger factors in unionization decline.

We need to redistribute income and prosperity to benefit more workers, which will make us a better country. Income redistribution is not a dirty phrase when we have a moderate system in which people can get very wealthy and workers can do better. Unionization clearly helps workers.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 1:33 pm
Everyone wishes they had union protection when they get laid off at age 50.

Comment by Hedley Lamarr Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 3:00 pm
About one in five workers in Germany belongs to a union. The German economy is subject to the same market forces as the American economy, yet unions play a more important role there, the German middle class is doing better than its American counterpart, and the German economy is strong.

Comment by nona Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 3:38 pm
I knew I should’ve pushed Blago harder, when GW was President, to petition for Illinois to sucede and then ask Canada to annex us… Missed opportunity, dang it. We’d have single payer healthcare and a stronger Union.

Comment by Triple fat Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 3:47 pm
==Everyone wishes they had union protection when they get laid off at age 50==

And that is far more common than you think. Or forced out with a buyout package that sounds good but won’t last for 30 some years. Those are the people who are bitter about government pensions. They have no such protection but at the same time snub their noses at the idea of unionization. Shoulda thought down the road. My community is filled with 50 somethings displaced by consolidation/relocation/downsizing of several giant companies located here. Too young to live on that money but no protection to fight for their jobs. Cannot help but think that the union angst is jealousy for the protection.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 5:12 pm
Part of the problem of the middle class decline is our desire to buy products at the cheapest price. As we consumers continue to buy items from offshore, we are just helping non-US countries to improve their citizens standard of living instead of ours. Anyone remember our parents encouraging us to buy American and buy union?

In the immortal words of Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us”

FWIW, in the past year, in spite of my nickname, I have made a conscious attempt to buy union /American. It was hard to do. Finally found tires made here in the size I needed. I also bought a US / union built SUV. If everyone did tried to shop that way, things might start to turn around.

Now I’m starting to sound like my parents …

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 7:16 pm
Unions had more success when the economy had large sectors that were regulated monopolies or oligopolies. When trucking was deregulated the Teamsters became a shadow of their former selves. The UAW heyday was when GM had 60 percent of the U.S. market.
The decision to increase competitiveness in the U.S. economy had an anti-union side effect. We aren’t going back to the 1960’s.
Moving the Chinese and Indian economies into the world economy changed the relative wages of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers worldwide. The gap narrowed in China and India but widened here.
Chairman Mao and Ghandian economics are gone. Few in China or India want them back.
I do not want the “good old days ” back. Competitive markets foster innovation and punish cronyism, racism, and sexism.
I would use tax policy to narrow some of the after tax spreads. But I am not King and there is no groundswell of opinion to strip Bill Gates, Oprah, or Michael Jordan of their wealth. We only want to take it from the faceless people who have their wealth “unfairly “. And who says what is unfair?

Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:00 pm
I get it that Canada differs from the US in many ways, like geography, demographics, natural resources, climate, etc. But unless these differences have markedly changed in the last 40 years, they cannot explain why unionization has declined so much more in the US than in Canada over that time. So the decline in the US is almost certainly due to changes in business attitudes and/or government policy specific to the US.

Comment by Andy S. Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 9:23 pm
“I don’t think middle class people whose incomes are also suffering can relate to people like Karen Lewis”

So who should they relate to, the Koch brothers, Rauner, think tanks, union-stripping Republicans and the super-wealthy behind the widespread RTW movement–the very people who contribute or try to add to their long-term economic stagnation?

They relate to those who are heck-bent on gaining permanent political and economic power over them? They would degrade their economic positions and benefit the super-wealthy because of…Karen Lewis?!

If I was a super-wealthy union buster, I too would feed certain people their fears of communism, Karen Lewis, leftists, welfare, etc., so that they would continue to empower me and weaken themselves. It would pay me incredible dividends.

I assume that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee and say that she should elevate and push union rights as a major issue against the Republican Party. For better of worse she’s racking up union endorsements.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Dec 3, 15 @ 11:28 pm
“Faulty comparison. Canada has roughly the same land mass as the US but roughly 10% of the population, for starters. It lacks the mega cities and the quantity of social ills resulting that the US bears. ”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_cities_by_population

Canada has some very large cities (and the numbers on that page are underestimates because areas like Toronto and Vancouver have incomplete amalgamations. The Golden Horseshoe is a pretty much continuous conurbation with a population of almost 9 million and is one the largest population concentrations in North America.

Look somewhere else other lack of urbanism and population density for explanations of the exceptional dysfunction of the United States. Canada is just as urban the US.

Comment by srboisvert Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 9:43 am