Labor Union Nostalgia
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From April 12 to April 17, the Industrial and Labor Relations School hosts Union Days, a series of events held every year to celebrate and discuss organized labor. This year’s posters ask “Is This Land Made for You and Me?” and will include discussions of inequality and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
It’s no secret that globalization and the shift towards a service-economy have hollowed out the size and scope of unionization in the United States. Union membership as a share of the total work force is now less than 12% and just less than 7% in the private sector. On the other hand, public sector unions, whose dues and wages are funded by taxpayers, had, until recently, expanded a great deal, attaining a membership approaching 40% of public employees.
What most attendees of Union Days think about these trends is predictable. They have