Study: Shrinking wages tied to decline in union membership
Americans are working longer and harder for increasingly shrinking wages for a lot of reasons — but one of the most important is the decades-long decline in labor union membership, according toa study (PDF) published Wednesday by a non-partisan economic think tank.
The study found that union membership stood at 26.7 percent in 1973, but fell to just 13.1 percent in 2011. During that same period, wages paid to working people hit an all-time low as a percentage of the economy, even as corporate profits and executive pay set records.
Researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) determined that union workers in 2011 still earn significantly more than non-union workers, with men gaining a union premium wage that’s