On the edge of equality?

The power of US unions – measured either by membership numbers or by economic and political clout – has sometimes seemed to be in virtual free fall in the last decades of the twentieth century. Yet the breathtaking decline of labour may have finally bottomed out and may even be beginning to reverse itself. In 1999, union density (the percentage of the labour force that is unionised)1 reached its lowest point since the 1930s with only 14 per cent of workers (10 per cent of the private sector and 37 per cent of the public sector) belonging to unions (USDL 2000). But under the relentless drum beat of ‘organise, organise’ emanating from the AFL-CIO’s2 new leadership under President John J. Sweeney, the haemorrhaging of membership has slowed. For the first time in 20 years, union density remained the same in 1999, and the absolute number of union members actually increased by some quarter of a million, boosting union membership to sixteen and a half million members. Of equal significance, the Sweeney administration’s aggressive leadership in politics since 1996 and its willingness to rethink ‘business as usual’ has earned it grudging respect from politicians, business leaders, and the public at large (Meyerson 2000).