Here's Why American Workers Are (a) Screwed and (b) Quitting [View all]

So, 2021 was a banner year for American workers, right? Wages rising, unemployment low, the revival of the strike, unions’ approval rating at its highest level (68 percent) in 50 years, and the most pro-labor administration in American history—things looking up, no?

No. Not by a long shot.

Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual count of unionized workers, which made clear that the 70-year decline of unions—that is, of worker power—continues apace. The share of unionized American workers dropped from 10.8 percent last year to 10.3 percent this year (tying the all-time low set in 2019), and the rate among private-sector workers also hit a new rock bottom of 6.1 percent, which is about one-seventh of its level in the middle of the 20th century.

With so much apparently going workers’ way, including their record-high level of support for unions, how do we explain this continuing decline?



https://prospect.org/labor/heres-why-american-workers-are-screwed-and-quitting/