Women Add Union Sectors, Fueling Labor Revival

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3496

Run Date: 02/19/08
By Sharon Johnson
WeNews correspondent

Women are adding sectors such as home health care, child care and nursing to union ranks, helping to revive organized labor after 25 years of membership declines tied to losses in male-dominated manufacturing.

(WOMENSNEWS)--The first increase in union membership in a quarter of a century was recorded in 2007 with employment sectors traditionally dominated by women driving the turnaround.

Nearly two-thirds of new union members last year were women, who now represent 44 percent of union membership, an all-time high.

Amid signs that union membership declines are bottoming out, Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which represents over 800,000 workers, is cautiously optimistic about the future for unions as well as for organizing more female workers.

"We face greater challenges than ever because we are up against powerful multinational corporations," said Durazo, whose union represents workers in the hotel, apparel and food service industries. "But I'm confident that we can meet the challenges because the best recruiting tool is a satisfied union member."

After recording erosion in union membership for 25 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in late January that union membership rose by 311,000 to 15.7 million in 2007.

That gives unions a 12 percent share of the work force, way down from around 20 percent in 1983 but still highly significant for workers who are in them, such as Jan Clausen, an adjunct professor at the Eugene Lang College of the New School for the Liberal Arts in New York City.

FULL story at link.

Note. My International Union (AFSCME) has a little over 53% women.