(Labor Law: Decline of union membership and power has led to rise in lawsuits)
What happened at the same time was that employers were able to finally step up their opposition to unions, which was something that they had probably wanted to do for a long time, and this was achieved through the methods of legal proceedings as well as political pressurizing and lobbying. Today, unions can no longer protest en masse and show their innate strength and power by threatening strikes and walkouts and staging them, because lawyers of today are well versed and knowledgeable in the ways and means to employ in launching attacks against large firms, like for example, they can take up the cause of retired workers who had been affected by constant and long-term exposure to asbestos in an asbestos manufacturing company, and it would be possible for these lawyers to win hundreds and thousands of dollars in the damages awarded to the retired employee. (Labor Law: Decline of union membership and power has led to rise in lawsuits)
It is well-known that unions have progressed form being a most despised and at times even feared organization of workers to now being largely supported by the general public, especially the middle class. It was the working class that had been forming a large part of the membership of unions, and this class gave way to the working and professional middle classes, and today, unions are supported by the middle class that had shown no interest in belonging to any type of union until the present time. However, organized labor is now steadily declining in membership to unions, and this may have to change radically if the better future of the working class is to be ensured in the future. The general and widespread conviction and belief is that unions are now dying a natural death, but the reality, according to some, is that unions are being murdered. 'Union-busting' is now a crusade, and it is also quite lucrative in the bargain, because of the fact that managers, human relations experts, anti-union lawyers, and several communication experts come together as one and force workers who may want to join an union into not making the attempt to join one. (Fate of the Union)
It is also said that the de-unionization brigade works at all times to discredit unions and its innate benefits,...
There is therefore no doubt that the union has fallen from grace, and the very response of the unions and its workers has been quite sluggish and slow, which has resulted in the inevitable, that is, the decline in the membership of the unions, and also a change in the membership, wherein, paradoxically, it is the middle class that is more supportive of the union than the working class, today. This is despite the fact that organized labor still insists that unions are critically important to sustain the American middle class, but the problem here is that industrial unions were in fact responsible for the creation of the middle class in itself. Quantitative change has turned into qualitative change, and this trend will continue for a long time in the future. (Fate of the Union)
References
Definition of Union" Retrieved at http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:unionAccessed on 11 March, 2005
Dresang, Joel. (Feb. 12, 2005) "Drop in Union Membership has Labor Officials Worried" Retrieved at http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/feb05/301017.asp. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
Joyce, Frank. (22 February, 2005) "Fate of the Union" Retrieved at http://www.alternet.org/story/21312/. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
Shachtman, Max. "The Fight for Socialism: The Principles and Program of the Workers Party" Retrieved at http://www.marxists.org/archive/shachtma/works/ffs06.htm. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
Reutter, Mark. (1 March, 2002) "Labor Law: Decline of union membership and power has led to rise in lawsuits" News Bureau, University of Illinois. Retrieved at http://www.news.uiuc.edu/biztips/02/03labor.html. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
Union Membership and Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey: Overview" Retrieved at http://www.unionstats.com/. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
Union Members Summary" (January 27, 2005) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.toc.htm. Accessed on 11 March, 2005
