California unions gained 131,206 new members from July 2008 to June 2009, and the proportion of California workers belonging to unions has also jumped, according to a study being released by UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Unions are riding a wave of public antipathy toward big corporations in the wake of the banking implosion and federal bailouts, said Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. “Due to the recession, there’s been a huge backlash against corporate greed, a shifting attitude among workers,” he said. “But whether unions can take advantage of this will be a challenge.” Wong said union members typically earn 30 percent more in wages and benefits than non-union workers, and generally have better job security and superior health care and retirement plans, according to the San Francisco Chronicle report. Craig Merrilees, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said unions have to look beyond advocating for their own membership and participate in larger economic issues that affect all workers, much as they did when they pushed for 40-hour work weeks, workers’ compensation and other benefits. “Unions have to be sober about the data, which reveals the extent of the economic crisis,” he said. “But if unions don’t connect with all workers, and grow ever more isolated, we’re all likely to pay for it dearly.”
Union Membership Jumps in California
Unions are riding a wave of public antipathy toward big corporations in the wake of the banking implosion and federal bailouts, said Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education.
September 7, 2009