Are Labor Unions Ready for Prime Time?
By DAVID MACARAY Despite the AFL-CIO’s prodigious efforts to attract new members-not to mention the existence of 35-40 million “working poor,” desperately in need of livable wages, pensions and medical coverage-union membership continues to slip. What was once a robust 35 percent (during the 1950s) is now hovering at a precarious 12 percent. It’s been reported that the AFL-CIO has spent, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars on its organizing efforts. That’s a lot of money, with precious little to show for it. The recent Wal-Mart organizing drive stands as a perfect example of labor’s grim struggle to increase its membership. With more than 3,600 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. to choose from, and despite bringing to bear all the financial and strategic resources at its disposal, the mighty House of Labor couldn’t persuade a single one of the giant retailer’s stores to join the union. Not one store. That’s not just disappointing, that’s scary. While the AFL-CIO has to assume responsib
