Union membership down nearly 40 percent in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Union membership in Wisconsin has declined nearly 40 percent since legislation was passed that gutted collective bargaining for public workers, according to federal data.

The percentage of public and private workers who were union members was about 8 percent, or 219,000 people, in 2016, down by 136,000 members from 2010 levels, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency’s report shows the percentage of Wisconsin workers in unions is below the national average of 10.7 percent, The State Journal reported.

A 2011 law took away collective bargaining powers from nearly all public-sector unions in Wisconsin except over base wage increases no greater than inflation. With no power to bargain over workplace rules or anything meaningful related to salaries, membership in the statewide teachers’ union and unions for state employees plummeted.

Membership in unions in Wisconsin tumbled further after the state in 2015 passed so-called right to work legislation, which prohibits businesses and unions from reaching agreements that require all workers, not just union members, to pay union dues.

http://www.heraldnet.com/business/union-membership-down-nearly-40-percent-in-wisconsin/