Labor Day: Polls show public's approval of unions near all-time low

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On this holiday created by unions to celebrate workers, labor unions are now under siege.

The percentage workers in New York State who are union members has sunk to the lowest rate in the last 20 years, from 29 percent in 1991 to 24 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — even as New York remains the strongest union state in the country.

Take away public-sector unions, and only 14 percent of workers are unionized, compared to about 21 percent two decades ago.

And even though the portion of union members in some parts of the mid-Hudson is still as high as 30 percent, local leaders of virtually every major union are feeling the national venom spewed at organized labor, which has led some states to take away hard-won union rights such as collective bargaining. In fact, a Gallup poll now says public approval of unions has reached a near all-time low of only 52 percent — a lower approval than even banks.

Unions and the benefits their members have earned are getting blamed for everything from higher school taxes to broken governments. That's especially true for New York's public-sector unions.

While union membership everywhere else was sinking, the percentage of state workers such as teachers in unions actually increased, from 67 percent to 71 percent, from 1985 to 2010. Not only does that give New York the highest percentage of public union employees in the country, that number is almost double the national rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read More: Times Herald Record

STATE OF LABOR UNIONS
29%: Percentage of all workers in New York State in unions in 1991.
24%: Percentage of all New York workers in unions in 2011.
12%: Percentage of union workers in the country in 2011.
14%: Percentage of all private-industry workers in New York who were in unions in 2010.
21%: Percentage of all private-industry workers in New York unions in 1985.
71%: Percentage of New York State public workers in unions in 2010.
36%: Percentage of public workers in the country in unions in 2010.
52%: Percentage of Americans who view unions favorably.



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