January 23, 2010

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that, for the first time in American history, the majority of union members are government workers rather than private sector employees. They found that this was mostly a result of union memberships falling dramatically in the private sector in 2009 due to job losses. The private sector had such a decrease in the rate of unionizations because the two sectors where union membership is so strong -- manufacturing and construction -- suffered especially large job losses. Construction lost more than 900,000 job in 2009 and 1.3 million factory jobs were lost. In 2008, there were 8.2 million unionized private sector workers; in 2009, the number dropped to 7.4 million. The public sector now has 7.9 million unionized workers. Another way of looking at the decrease in the private sector, in 2008, 7.6% of private sector workers were unionized (sad that it's so little); in 2009, the percentage decreased to 7.2%. Labor historians say that is the lowest percentage of unionized private sector workers since 1900. In the same period, union membership for government workers grew from 36.8% to 37.4%.

The president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees was dismayed at the news, "It's a very bad sign. We've been banged around some, but when you see what's been happening to the industrial base of this country, to the steelworkers, to the autoworkers, they've been hammered much more." The policy director for the A.F.L-C.I.O said the decline "tells us that good jobs are disappearing faster than bad jobs." A labor relations professor at Rutgers University said, "It's a sad commentary on the ability of private-sector workers to unionize. Unions have less strength when they represent a lower percentage of workers." The U.S. Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis, said in a statement that union members generally have higher earnings than non-unionized workers. She added, "As workers across the country have seen their real and nominal wages decline as a result of the recession, these numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership. This report makes clear why the administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier to unionize." (Full Story)

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As a form of protest and to show their opposition to the election results last year, Iranian students are boycotting end-of-term exams. They consider it a peaceful means of protest. The exam boycotts began at Amir Kabir University. It was reported that a large number of students had not turned up for more than 40 exams as an act of solidarity with 12 students who were imprisoned during previous demonstrations. The university management then announced that those that did not take the exams will have a zero grade for their end of year results. After the threat, a number of exams were held and some students did participate. Some teachers that sympathized with the students tried to get the university to reverse their decision.

Since then, the boycott has gained momentum and has spread to several other universities in Tehran. Officials of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology -- which is responsible for higher education -- have denied any disruptions in exams. The Deputy Minister for Education said that the boycotting of exams "is part of a conspiracy to agitate the students and create chaos in academic institutions." (Full Story)