Celebrate the Decline of Labor Unions on Labor Day

Labor Day traditionally marks the unofficial end of summer. It also offers a moment to take note of the decline of labor unions in the U.S. – in both the private and public sectors.

During college, I learned just as much – perhaps more – about labor unions while riding as a guard in the back of an armored truck as I did in the classroom. And it wasn’t pretty.

Yes, I was a card-carrying union member while studying economics and business undergrad. What I saw firsthand were union leaders pressuring the most productive workers to slow down. After all, the hard workers were making others look bad, and putting lucrative overtime pay in jeopardy.

That real-life lesson subsequently was confirmed by my studies in economics. Indeed, while there certainly are examples from the past of unions exposing harsh working conditions, labor unions overwhelmingly are about seeking to maximize the compensation of union members while minimizing the work being performed. That, of course, is not only bad for the competitiveness of businesses, but also ultimately for workers who see their opportunities limited or even eliminated when unionized enterprises falter in the marketplace.

But thankfully, the damage that unions have been able to inflict on the private sector has been vastly reduced over time. As noted by Unionstats.com, labor union members as a percent of private employment has fallen from 24.2 percent in 1973 to only 6.4 percent in 2016. Heck, unions can’t even organize auto plants any more, losing an organizing vote at a Nissan plant in Mississippi in early August, and at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee in 2014.

But the news gets even more interesting when looking at the recent trend in union membership in the public sector. Keep in mind that labor union power now completely resides in the political sphere, providing dollars and muscle for the Democrats, and maintaining lofty unionization levels among government workers.

However, the share of labor union members among public sector workers has rather steadily declined over the past seven years, from 37.2 percent in 2009 to 34.4 percent in 2016. Now, that’s not exactly a nosedive, but the 2016 level is the lowest since 1981. That’s both stunning and encouraging.

And some politicians are taking strong stands. Of course, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) made his mark in taking on public sector unions in his state, and more recently, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (R) has taken steps like signing a right-to-work law, as well as a law opposing pro-union project labor agreements for local governments.

Unfortunately, there are states where unions still have a strangle hold over much of the state’s politics, such as New York where labor union members account for 67.3 percent of public sector workers. Still, looking at the nation as a whole, an intriguing question might be emerging: Could the decline in government union members in recent years continue, eventually making labor unions as irrelevant in the public sector as they are in the private sector? Let’s hope so.