union, labor: The Late 1950s to the Present

The Late 1950s to the Present

The AFL-CIO issued a series of ethical-practice codes to govern the behavior of union officers and expelled the Teamsters for corruption in 1957. Nevertheless the entire labor movement found itself on the defensive in the late 1950s, following the disclosures made by the Senate Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field (popularly known as the McClellan Committee); the committee exposed such abuses as collusion between dishonest employers and union officials, extortions and the use of violence by certain segments of labor leadership, and the misuse of funds by high-ranking union officials. As a result of the findings of the McClellan Committee, the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 was enacted to correct abuses in labor-management relations.

Since World War II, U.S. unions have undergone a period of decline. In 1960 one third of all American workers belonged to a union, but by 2012 the proportion had dropped to about 11%. Faced with foreign competition and financial troubles in its traditional power base—manufacturing and mining—organized labor was hurt in the 1980s by layoffs and was, in many cases, forced to accept reduced wages and benefits. In response, many unions adopted a more conciliatory attitude, reducing the number of strikes to record lows in the 1980s and early 90s, and attempting to negotiate contracts providing job security for members. Unions have also placed greater emphasis on organizing drives for new members. Although unions have been very successful in organizing government employees, they have been less successful with recruiting office workers in the rapidly expanding services sector. Another problem is demographic: The fastest growing parts of the labor force (women, service industries, and college-educated employees) have traditionally been the most reluctant to organize.

By 1996 the number of strikes in the United States had reached its lowest level in 50 years; at the end of the decade, however, a tighter labor market and more aggressive union leadership led to a resurgence of strikes against such major companies as Northwest Airlines, General Motors, and United Parcel Service. In 2005 disagreements over policy led a number of large unions in the AFL-CIO to leave and form the Change to Win Federation, but by 2010 two of the unions had rejoined the AFL-CIO.

In the early 21st cent., public-sector employees and women made up a larger share (around 50% in both cases) of union members than they had historically, and manufacturing employees had diminished (to roughly one in ten union members) while college graduates had increased (to four in ten). In the early 2010s, public-sector unions, especially at the state level, found themselves under particular pressure after the economic downturn of 2008–9 led to a significant drop in tax revenues. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that public-sector union could not receive fees from nonunion employees without their consent. Unlike European union movements, American organized labor has in general avoided the formation of a political party and has remained within the framework of the two-party system.

Sections in this article:

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Labor