UAW Membership Rises to Highest Level Since 2008
The United Auto Workers membership rose 0.5 percent to 382,513 last year, the union’s highest since 2008 and the third consecutive gain, as U.S. automakers added employees amid rising sales.
The UAW disclosed the 2012 figure, the largest for the union since its membership totaled 431,037 in 2008, in an e- mailed statement yesterday that cited a union filing with the U.S. Labor Department. The union added 1,794 members from 380,719 in 2011.
General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Chrysler Group LLC gained sales in the U.S. last year when combined they earned $13.5 billion. While the UAW’s 2012 gain followed a 1.1 percent increase in 2011, the UAW’s total membership is still only about one-fourth its size in 1979, when it peaked at 1.5 million members.
“This is the third straight year of membership growth, which is a very positive sign for the union,” said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “They seem to have turned the corner after the previous five straight years of significant declines. It’s a tough battle to get back to where they once were, though.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/uaw-membership-rises-to-highest-level-since-2008.html
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