Economy Now
Unions in trouble
January 28, 2013: 5:34 PM ETThe slow, steady decline of unions continued in 2012, when membership shrank by nearly 400,000.
States kept chipping away at unions' power, with the latest blow coming in Michigan, where workers at union-represented employers can now forgo paying dues.
CNNMoney takes a look at unions' recent troubles:
Membership peaked in 1953 and is now at its lowest level in nearly a century.
Women bore the brunt of the decline.
Unions remain more prevalent in government than in private industry.
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Union membership down, income inequality up
The decline of union membership has been a key driver of income inequality in recent decades, a new report found.
The drop in unionization accounts for roughly a third of the growth in wage inequality among men and a fifth among women between 1973 and 2007, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The share of the workforce represented by unions declined from 26.7% in 1973 to 13.1% in 2011. This contributed MORE
Tami Luhby - Aug 30, 2012 9:22 AM ET
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
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| 30 yr refi | 3.64% | 3.57% | |
| 15 yr refi | 2.79% | 2.72% |
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| Latest Report | Next Update |
|---|---|
| Home prices | Aug 28 |
| Consumer confidence | Aug 28 |
| GDP | Aug 29 |
| Manufacturing (ISM) | Sept 4 |
| Jobs | Sept 7 |
| Inflation (CPI) | Sept 14 |
| Retail sales | Sept 14 |
