ABSTRACT
A long and continuous decline in union density has characterized the U.S. union movement since the mid-1950s. Union density dropped from almost a third, 32.5 percent of nonagricultural employees, in 1953 to less than a fourth, 23.2 percent, in 1980 and about a seventh, 14.0 percent, in 1999 (Troy, 1986, p. 87; Union Members, 2000). The actual number of members started to decline at the end of the 1970s—from 21 million in 1979 to 16.5 million in 1999 (Hirsch and MacPherson, 1998; Union Members, 2000). Since 1995, John Sweeney’s new administration at the AFL-CIO has been devoting considerable resources to reverse the trend, but union density has not increased.
