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by Harley Shaiken (courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute)
Like the temperatures in a severe winter freeze, union membership continues to sink to record lows. The latest numbers indicate that 7.4% of working Americans in the private sector were union members in 2006 (BLS 2007), compared to over 30% in 1960 (Greenhouse 2007). If you include government workers, then the numbers inch up to a still-meager 12%, which is down from 12.5% in 2005 (BLS 2007).
Does this mean that Americans no longer want to join unions? Not according to the most recent polls. A Peter Hart poll conducted in December 2006 reports that 58% of non-managerial working Americans indicated they would join a union if they could, a record number.
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