Union Ambitions

Unions continue to exist in private utilities and very large industries. In the 1970s Unions targeted government employees, illegal immigrant farm workers and educational institutions to replace manufacturing employees they lost beginning in the 1970s.. They want to keep that base. Unions have attempted to organize healthcare workers and have had modest success. Despite these gains, their total membership has slipped from 21 million in 1979 to 15.3 million in 2009. Of these 15.3 million members, 7.9 million are government employees and 7.4 million are in the private sector, down from 8.2 in 2008. That means 5.1% of the U.S. population belong to unions (yawn….) . So, when Obama touts the importance of unions, we wonder where he’s been since 1930.

Unions and their functionaries (see Democrats) usually mess with companies in industries they think they could succeed in organizing. A few industries come to mind: 1) Banks – 80% of bank employees are Tellers earning $22,000 a year. 2) Retail – the same applies, look at their war on Wal-Mart. 3) Insurance and Financial Services – pay is a little higher, but the workforce is the same. 4) Healthcare is over-priced, sensitive to criticism (see extortion), land-locked and labor intensive - perfect. If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until all hospitals are forced to unionize.