Are The Days Of The Union Numbered? UAW Membership Falls By 18% In 2009

Hopefully we will continue to see the demise of the domestic terrorists known as labor unions. Once American companies are free to compete on our own soil again, America in general will become stronger. These union germs dont seem to have a clue they are killing the host.

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Labor unions in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are all turning to American labor unions for ideas to combat a drastic decline in membership. In all three countries, unions are faced with market conditions in which union benefits are available to all workers, regardless of their membership in the union. The numbers are reflecting a situation in which incentives to join unions are disappearing. Union organizing, which in the United States has developed into a sophisticated profession and market, is nearly nonexistent in Europe. In the United Kingdom, union membership density has drastically declined to 30 percent since the administration of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. U.K. unions are hiring American consultants and professional union organizers to combat the decline. Employers, for their part, are hiring anti-union consultants from the United States. As a result, the decline in membership has been halted, but there is no increase. The Netherlands have had a tradition of “flexicurity,” which is a model that gives flexibility to employers and security to employees. In an economy where unemployment, temp work, and inflation are all increasing, union fees are looking to be more trouble than they are worth for workers. Bargaining is done at the national or industry level in the Netherlands, as opposed to the level of individual employer as in the United Kingdom. By Dutch law, benefits that are negotiated must be available to all employees, regardless of their membership in a labor union. The Dutch unions are also turning to American labor unions for inspiration but the organizing differences between the American and Dutch models are too great for the Dutch to follow the American model. Membership in German labor union has dropped over 10 percent since re-unification, which translates into a decline in bargaining power, regardless of institutional position. However, unlike in the Netherlands, where employers are obligated by law to extend bargained benefits to everyone, in Germany, employers only do it voluntarily, something that is starting to change as union membership declines. Like the other two countries, Germany is also looking to the United States for aid. Due to the increasingly transnational nature of companies, US unions already have permanent representation in the country, in order to be able to do international bargaining with employers.