President Obama warned Americans in his weekly message Saturday that falling membership in labor unions could hurt workers in the future.
Obama used his Labor Day weekend message to tout decades of progress on workers’ benefits that unions advocated, including the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay and a minimum wage.
“All of that progress is stamped with the union label. All of that progress was fueled with a simple belief that our economy works better when it works for everybody,” Obama said. “Do we want a future where inequality rises as union membership keeps falling – or one where wages are rising for everybody and workers have a say in their prospects?”
Obama charged workers with following the lead of “those who came before us,” by exercising “our rights to speak up in the workplace, join a union, and above all, to vote.”
The president’s call to action comes several days after labor leaders praised Obama for his efforts to help increase their numbers by implementing new regulations. On Thursday, the presidents of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union publicly commended the Obama administration for working with them.
A recent Heritage Foundation study found only 6 percent of all workers in the private sector who are represented by unions actually voted for it, since many of the companies were previously unionized and federal law does not require recertification votes.
Union membership has plunged in recent decades, from 20.1 percent of workers in 1983 to 11.1 percent last year, the same as in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union membership of public-sector workers such as teachers and government employees was 35.2 percent, more than five times higher than the 6.7 rate rate for private-sector workers.
