Women on pace to become majority of union workers
WASHINGTON - Women are on track to become a majority of unionized workers in the next 10 years, signaling their growing clout in the labor movement.
The shift, outlined in a report yesterday from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, could see organized labor focus more intensely on issues important to women as unions look to broaden their ranks and wield greater political strength in the next election cycle.
“When you have a majority of women in the labor movement, issues like work-family balance, paid sick days, and paid parental leave become more important,’’ said John Schmitt, an economist at the left-leaning think tank and one of the authors of the report.
The study tracks the growing diversity of the labor movement over the past quarter-century, including a surge in Latino union members and the steep decline of unionized workers from the manufacturing sector.
Women now make up about 45 percent of union members, up from 35 percent in 1983. That number is expected to move past 50 percent by 2020. White men now make up 38 percent of the union workforce, down from 51.7 percent in 1983.
Latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic group in organized labor, more than doubling their representation from 5.8 percent to 12.2 percent over the past 25 years. Asian workers also saw their union ranks swell, from 2.5 percent in 1989 to 4.6 percent in 2008.
Union members now represent 12.4 percent of the nation’s workforce, down from about 20 percent in 1983.
