For years, union membership has been on the decline, which is why organized labor has lobbied so vigorously for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. If the act becomes law, which it will in a Democratic administration, all each worker needs to do is sign a card expressing one’s wish to join a union. And with union organizers passing around those cards and pressuring workers to sign, union membership is expected to skyrocket.
Now comes news that union membership is, in fact, increasing in certain areas and it is happening without the help of card checks.
In Boston, for example, 6,359 people have joined unions in the past year. That’s the highest number in 20 years! Many of those who have joined unions are truck and taxi drivers, private security guards, and home-healthcare aids.
Boston is like many other large cities across the nation; therefore, one can expect to see a rise in union membership in such places as New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Detroit, etc.
Since this is occurring without the aid of the Employee Free Choice Act, one can only imagine the extraordinarily large number of new union members there will be when the EFCA passes Congress and is signed into law. It is time for Corporate America to create effective strategic action plans to deal with the coming union onslaught. Time is of the essence.
