Heh - Unions in the news

Gettin' pretty desperate out there. From The Detroit News:

Union membership falls to 70-year low
The nation's unions lost 400,000 members in 2012 as the percentage of U.S. workers represented by a labor union fell to 11.3 percent, its lowest level since the 1930s - declining by 0.5 percent over the last year.

Michigan accounted for about 10 percent of the nation's loss of unionized workers as the Wolverine State fell to the seventh most-unionized state, from fifth in 2011.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the biggest hit was in public sector unions, where many states and cities have cut back on their unionized workforce.

Among public sector workers, 35.9 percent are in a union - down from 37.0 percent in 2011, as the public sector shed nearly 250,000 union workers.

The public sector union rate is more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers. In the private sector, 6.6 percent are unionized, down from 6.9 percent in 2011.

And this editorial by Diana Furchtgott-Roth at The Washington Examiner:

Furchtgott-Roth: Why the unions are shrinking
On Wednesday, the Labor Department publishes 2012 data showing that during President Obama's first term the unionization rate -- the percentage of American workers belonging to unions -- declined faster than during two terms of President George W. Bush. Who would have guessed?

The total unionization rate declined from 11.8 percent of wage and salary workers in 2011 to 11.3 percent in 2012. Private-sector unionization fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent, and the government unionization rate dropped from 37 percent to 35.9 percent. The total Obama-era decline is 1.1 percentage points, compared with 1.1 percentage points during the eight Bush years.

Although Obama has championed union causes, his tax and regulatory policies have systematically discouraged business investment and job creation in America for all workers -- union and nonunion.

U.S. corporate tax rates remain the highest in the industrialized world. Inefficient regulations add to production costs and make employees into liabilities.

Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, which would have provided thousands of unionized construction jobs. Instead, Canada is planning to ship the oil it produces in its western provinces to China. Too bad for American members of the Laborers' International Union of North America. More jobs for Canadians.

Obama's Environmental Protection Agency regulations have resulted in the closure of more than 100 coal-fired power plants over the past two years, with more scheduled. That's too bad for the United Mine Workers of America and for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

In 2009, Chrysler and GM were given government bailouts, disenfranchising existing creditors and transferring assets to the United Auto Workers. Despite the bailout, if your price can be beat, you can't compete. On Jan. 15, Chrysler announced that it would be expanding Jeep production in Guangzhou, China, rather than in Toledo, Ohio. Too bad for the United Auto Workers.

Under Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, firms with more than 49 workers face a $2,000-per-worker tax if they don't offer the right kind of health insurance. That's fewer full-time jobs, but more part-time jobs, because there's no tax on part-time employees.

Unions were a good thing at one time. They had the moral high-ground. Situations changed and the unions did not. Their leadership became complacent and corrupt and they did not listen to the workers. Time for a change...