Posts tagged Bureau of Labor and Statistics

    Commentary: More Jobs, Fewer Workers: Is the Labor Market Strong or Weak?

    November 5, 2024 // Even after factoring in the BLS’s acknowledgment that its reports overstated job gains by 818,000 from March 2023 to March 2024, there still appears to be about five times as many new jobs created over the past year as there are additional people working. While media reports and markets tend to focus on jobs reports, what matters most to the economy and to human flourishing is how many people are working. Currently only 60.2% of people ages 16 and over in the U.S. are working. This is a gap of about 2.6 million workers compared to pre-pandemic employment rates.

    Commentary: G-MEN: Governments Employ Record Number of People

    October 13, 2024 // This September, the Congressional Research Service released an updated version of this report. It revealed the same thing: The seven congressional districts with the highest percentage of federal civilian workers in its workforce are all in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.—and all are represented by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Maryland’s District 5, according to this Congressional Research Service report, 18.18% of all workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, the former House majority leader. In Virginia’s District 8, 16.67% of all workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Don Beyer. In Maryland’s District 8, 14.48% of workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin. In Virginia’s District 7, 13.59% of workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

    From the Rust Belt to the Ports: A Warning About Extortive Union Demands

    October 4, 2024 // Not all labor unions are ‘pro-worker.’ With 36 ports striking today, the International Longshoremen Association is threatening other jobs, “I will cripple you, and you have no idea what that means."

    Op-Ed: Painting the Targets

    September 24, 2024 // I next went looking for data about union density—the percentage of employees in an industry who are union members—in New York and California. For New York City, Hofstra University’s Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy put together this report showing industries that have seen declines in union membership. About half of the industries line up with those listed on the independent-contractor complaint form:

    Why the protests at American Dream? Workers try to unionize, clash with employers

    September 19, 2024 // They’re cleaning staff trying to organize and join part of the union 32BJ Service Employees International Union, and they’ve been protesting the treatment of several of their fellow workers at American Dream. Among their grievances, 32BJ alleged that two people working at the mall as cleaning staff — Jose Terán and Luis Verela — were fired because of their union organizing efforts by HSA Cleaning, a company the mall contracted for cleaning services.

    OPINION Why don’t unions have to stand for reelection?

    September 16, 2024 // The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 7.4 million workers in the private sector belonged to labor unions in 2023. Yet according to a new study from the Institute for the American Worker, which promotes market-oriented labor reform, fewer than 400,000 of those unionized employees — about 5 percent — have ever voted in an election for the union that represents them. Like me, the vast majority of employees in unionized workplaces were hired after the union had already been voted in. Most unions have never been required to confirm that they have the support of current workers by winning a recertification election. In some workplaces, a lifetime has elapsed — that isn’t hyperbole — since the union was first certified. The United Auto Workers organized General Motors’ Michigan plants in 1937 and has represented the employees who work there ever since. Never once has it had to stand for reelection. What kind of “workplace democracy” is that?

    Labor unions lose 63,000 members under new state law

    September 5, 2024 // The largest losses of union representation in Florida due to SB 256 come from those employed by the state government — more than 43,000 state employees have lost their unions. The second largest loss of union representation comes from university and college professors, specifically unions that represent adjunct and part-time faculty. Municipal employees from cities large and small follow. WLRN is using public records to maintain a database that shows the full extent of the fallout of the law.

    Connecticut has most unionized public sector in the country

    September 3, 2024 // Between 2018 and 2023, the number of public sector union members in Connecticut surged, making Connecticut the state with the highest percentage of unionized public sector workers in the country, and the fifth-highest rate of overall union membership, according to the latest numbers from Unionstats.com The figures, derived from Census data, show 15.8 percent of the state’s entire workforce is a union member, and 16.9 percent of workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Those percentages have stayed relatively steady, but the actual numbers of union members have increased, even as Connecticut’s workforce has decreased.

    10 States with the Largest Declines in Union Membership

    August 26, 2024 // Daniel Li, CEO and Co-Founder of Plus Docs, commented on the findings: "It's interesting to see where states are seeing union memberships surge, especially as although there is a general increase in the South and Midwest, it is also true that neighboring states can see vastly different results. While Mississippi has nearly doubled its union membership, their neighbor, Alabama, has gone the opposite way."

    Commentary: Why Labor Strikes Are Likely to Take Off under a Harris-Walz Administration

    August 14, 2024 // It is worth noting that the United Auto Workers (UAW) want to unionize the employees of Musk’s electric-car company, Tesla. Fain was paid $228,872 as head of the UAW in 2023; the twelve “top officers are paid in excess of the [sic] $200,000 and hundreds more earn six figures, putting them in the top 5 percent of US income earners.” It is also worth noting that the “total dues-paying membership of the UAW fell by 13,000 last year to 370,000, down from 383,000 in 2022.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average autoworker is paid $30.78 per hour and works 41 hours per week, adding up to about $66,000 per year.