l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Economy, globalization of manufacturing hit labor hard, experts say
11:47 PM, Sep. 3, 2011 |
Waste treatment operator Daryl Iczkowski scoops a sample to be tested Friday
at Foremost Farms in Rothschild.
Purchase Image
Waste treatment operator Daryl Iczkowski scoops a sample to be tested Friday
at Foremost Farms in Rothschild. / Xai Kha/Wausau Daily Herald
Written by
Jake Miller
Wausau Daily Herald
Filed Under
Local News
Union workers by the numbers
Private sector unions and U.S. Postal Service workers are required to file
annual reports with the Department of Labor as part of the Labor-Management
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.
The unions listed below are active unions chartered in Marathon and Lincoln
counties. Other local unions exist, but their annual reports might be filed
in other counties where their headquarters are based.
Below is a selection of unions in Marathon and Lincoln counties and their
local membership base in 2010.
» American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Lincoln
/Marathon counties): 1,200
Wausau
» Carpenters Independent Local 310: 364
» Carpenters Independent Local 1594: 349
» Carpenters Independent Local 2344: 116
» Electrical Workers IBEW AFL-CIO Local 1791: 308
» Fire Fighters AFL-CIO Local 415: 57
» Iron Workers AFL-CIO Local 811: 318
» Letter Carriers, National Assoc., AFL-CIO Branch 215: 67
» Machinists AFL-CIO Lodge 1438: 162
» Postal Workers, American, AFL-CIO Local 4532: 230
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 666: 85
Rothschild
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 319: 334
Mosinee
» Plumbers AFL-CIO Local 434: 1,167 (300 central Wisconsin)
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 221: 155
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 224: 235
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 316: 158
» Steelworkers AFL-CIO Local 1381: 378
» Teamsters Local 662: 1,500 in Marathon County
Athens
» Carpenters Independent Local 1488: 211
Stratford
» Machinists AFL-CIO Local Lodge 110: 130
» The Wisconsin Education Association Council, which represents
hundreds of teachers in Marathon and Lincoln counties, declined to share its
membership numbers for central Wisconsin.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor; local union officials
As central Wisconsin celebrates Labor Day following a tumultuous political
battle over public workers' rights, union membership continues a steady
decline here and throughout the state.
A precise count is not available, but at least 5,400 workers in Marathon and
Lincoln counties still belong to unions -- and that figure does not include
teachers, whose unions declined to disclose membership information. But the
proportion of workers who belong to unions in Wisconsin fell a full
percentage point last year, from 15.2 percent in 2009 to 14.2 percent in
2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That's slightly better than the national average of about 12 percent, but
dramatically lower than in the early 1980s when 20 percent of U.S. workers
were in unions, data show.
A number of factors are driving down union membership among public and
private workers. The slumping economy, globalization of manufacturing and a
lack of labor law enforcement have hit unions especially hard, labor experts
said.
On top of that, Wisconsin's new collective bargaining law (Act 10) -- which
strips most public workers of their ability to bargain with their bosses --
is likely to drive some public workers away from unions, University of
Wisconsin-Madison labor historian William Jones said.
"I don't see any indication that number is going to turn around any time
soon," Jones said.
Still, union workers and employers say they're trying to work together, even
as the economy and law are driving them apart.
Union challenges
Mark Pisca, a union member for the past 25 years, still sees the value in
organized labor.
As a factory worker at Marathon Electric, Pisca, of Wausau, has benefited
from having the union as a voice for him and about 300 other workers. Union
workers' wages are higher than nonunion counterparts, and they can bargain
for things such as benefits and workplace conditions. On average, union
workers make $200 more per week than their nonunion counterparts, according
to federal data.
He believes in unions so much so that he has worked as the president of
Electrical Workers IBEW AFL-CIO Local 1791 for the past 12 years. |
|
