doug- Off the top of my head (am on the road but will check this with someone who knows it cold sometime this wee), my understanding is that Bush changed the way numbers and members are counted by dol, so that fair share members are not counted (ie if yer in a non-right to work state, and your workplace has a union contract, but you dont support the union for whatever reason and won't belong, but there is a fairshare clause that means you pay all or some dues regardless) anymore.  A statistical trick in the way of counting to knock the numbers down a notch basically.  Bob Fitch supports this trick of Bush's to make the unions smaller by any even silly means tho, judging by the fact that he constantly uses this huge one-year imaginary decline in members to illustrate that seiu is in fact not succeeding at organizing.  Which might explain the enthusiasm the nyt editorial page and the center for union 'facts' have for his work and message. Jim btw email me back about lunch or coffee on the 6th or 7th in ny.