ABSTRACT
In 1990, approximately 17 million U.S. workers belonged to a labor union. Approximately the same number of Americans belonged to unions in 1953. Even though the numbers are equivalent, the percentage of the unionized nonfarm labor force tells a much different story. 1953 represents the high-water mark of unions in U.S. history when about one in three workers carried a union card; in 1990, only about one in six do (Bureau of the Census, 1961, 1989; Schuler, 1992). By this account, the presence of unions as part of the business landscape is on the decline.
