There is, of course, a direct link between less worker clout and the decline in union coverage. The right has quite explicitly targeted unions with an array of anti-union policies, the most recent of which have been “right-to-work” laws. The impact of anti-union policy can be seen by the differing experiences of Canada and the United States over this period. The fact that unions continue to thrive in a country with a very similar culture and economy indicates that there is nothing inevitable about the decline in unions in the United States. The United States may never approach Scandinavian rates of unionization, but if we are even going to get back to 1970 rates, unions will have to make inroads into new areas.

Source: Washington Post September 03, 2018 09:56 UTC