State of Unions
According to the St. Lous Post-Dispatch:
During the 1950s, labor unions represented about 35 percent of American workers. Today, labor unions represent about 12 percent. The huge decline has led lots of otherwise intelligent people — including politicians, journalists and union-eligible workers themselves — to conclude that organized labor does not matter much any more.
Here comes Philip M. Dine, who has covered the labor beat for the Post-Dispatch for parts of three decades, to shatter the conventional wisdom. He explains, in a book that must be described with the overused adjective "important," why labor unions matter and how their renaissance would make the United States a better place to live.
For readers who care about the role of journalists in the decline of labor unions, Dine includes an excellent section about the shameful coverage by most newspapers, magazines and TV stations. News organizations, though, are just one of the culprits. Dine spares nobody, including shortsighted labor union leaders who are too frequently uncommunicative with their workers and the general public, corrupt to the point of embezzlement and so protective of their own turf that they fail to look at the big picture...click to continue.
