Dear EmailNation Subscriber,
Only 9 percent of private-sector American workers currently belong to unions -- a smaller share than when John Sweeney's "new voices" leadership team took over the AFL-CIO seven years ago, and lower even than a century ago.Ý
The failure to grow membership is not just labor's fault, and certainly does not reflect the views of US workers, millions of whom desire representation at work. American unions operate under a uniquely unfavorable labor law. They face the most union-hostile business community in the world. And for all their PAC giving and get-out-the-vote drives, they are still limited politically to a Democratic party that regularly gets more excited about fighting for free-trade agreements than for worker rights.
These are all important parts of the reason that organized labor has failed to reach the workers who desire representation, and they are not likely to change anytime soon. And change itself probably requires more union members pushing for it.
So how, under present circumstances, can unions then increase membership? Richard Freeman and Nation contributing editor Joel Rogers argue in the June 24, 2002 issue of the The Nation for a change in labor's basic definition of membership making it open to workers without union majorities at their workplace, and organized along occupational or regional lines. They believe such sorts of membership, which labor has used effectively in the past, can powerfully combine with Internet outreach to new members. They call the new mix "Open Source Unionism," and claim that OSU could increase union membership, quickly, by millions if seriously tried.
For the fuller case for Open Source Unionism, read Freeman and Rogers, "A Proposal to American Labor" now.
Currently available at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020624&c=1&s=rogers
Labor's values are far more widely supported in American society than reflected in current labor membership. Workers want a connection to unions far greater than they have now. OSU offers a blueprint for turning this situation around. So check out this important essay today.
Best Regards, Peter Rothberg, Associate Publisher