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Labor Day 1999, the last Labor Day of the century, will be the 117th Labor Day holiday since New York City first inaugurated the custom in 1882.
Even though Labor Day was dedicated to the working people of America, in reality, it was a holiday to celebrate unionism -- organized labor. The modern era of organized labor in America began just a few years after the first Labor Day with the founding of American Federation of Labor in Columbus, Ohio in 1886
Labor unionism in America peaked in the mid 1950s. At that time about 30 percent of the work force were union members compared to 14 percent in 1998. In the 1950s unions represented almost 40 percent of the private sector work force and about 10 percent of the public sector. In 1998, this situation was completely reversed with about 9 percent of private employment and 38 percent of public employment unionized
Despite this long and rather steady decline, throughout this period of time, union officials have used Labor Day to proclaim that, while they have had problems in the past, they were back on the right track and growing again in both numbers and influence.
They can certainly be expected to do the same again in 1999. A precursor to this surfaced in January 1999 when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that between 1997 and 1998 union membership had grown by 101,000, even though union membership as a percent of the work force fell from 14.1 to 13.9.
ALF-CIO President John Sweeney was quick to herald this news saying, "This new data confirms that today's unions are on the right track. We're reaching out and growing, especially in the communities where working families most benefit from unionization."
In 1998, public employment increased by 254,000 jobs and, because public employment is heavily unionized, public sector union membership increased by 158,000.
During 1998 employment in the private sector increased by almost 2 million and private sector union membership declined by 57,000. Union membership as a percent of the private sector work force declined from 9.7 to 9.5.
The 101,000 member increase in 1998 is only 4.5 percent of the 2.2 million new jobs created that year, far less than the 13.9 percent of the work force presently unionized. At that rate of organizing, unions can only fall farther behind.
There may have been an inadvertent element of truth in Sweeney's statement that "We're reaching out and growing, especially in the communities where working families most benefit from unionization." According to the same BLS report, in 1998 median weekly earnings for public employees were $620 while they were only $505 in the private sector. That's an almost 23 percent difference.
Even among union members there's a big difference. Median weekly earnings for public sector union members are $696 while their private sector brethren earn only $625.
It may become increasingly difficult for union officialdom to explain to their private sector members -- who are still the majority of all union members in America -- how they benefit from the unions "reaching out and growing" where they "most benefit from unionization" when they feel the bite in their paychecks from paying the bill for their much more highly compensated public sector brothers and sisters.
Labor Day 1999 probably won't be the last such celebration but it looks like an era is coming to an end. According to union demographer Leo Troy of Rutgers University, unions represented 4.9 percent of the work force in 1899 and by 1918 had exceeded their present level of representation.
The power and influence of the modern American union movement is based
on extraordinary
special privileges and legal immunities granted to it by congress.
Unions are the only institution in our society with the power to compel
another party to enter
into negotiations for an unwanted contract.
Unions are the only institution in our society with the power to coerce
an unwilling participant
to either join or provide financial support for unwanted representation.
Unions are exempt from laws prohibiting conspiracies in restraint of trade.
Unions are exempt from federal prosecution for extortionate violence,
so long as the goal of
the extortion is a legitimate union objective.
Absent these powers of monopoly and coercion and legal immunities, unionism
would decline even more rapidly.
Given the present apparent economic and political influence of the American union movement it might be difficult to imagine that in a brief period of time their power will diminish. The same was undoubtedly true of the Robber Barons at the end of the century. Who would have imagined then that within a relatively brief period of time Congress would enact Antitrust laws?
David Y. Denholm
President
Public Service Research Foundation
320-D Maple Avenue East
Vienna, Virginia 22180
Phone: 703-242-3575
Fax: 703-242-3579