Unions in the USA - Essay Example

In the Unites s union membership has been traditionally a very important backbone of the business world. The job of the union is protecting therights of its workers and negotiating the best possible collective bargaining agreement. During the past few years union membership in America has been on the decline. In recent years unions have lost over 12,000 members. One of the primary reasons for the decline of union membership in recent years is that a lot of companies have closed down. A characteristic of unions is that they protect the blue collar workers.

Manufacturing jobs have been on a steady decline in America during the 21st century. In America more jobs are been created in the service sector which traditionally does not utilize unions. Also professional jobs such as accountants and lawyers also do not use unionization. There are several other reasons why union membership is down in America. Four reasons for the decrease in union membership in America are: global competition and deregulation in traditionally unionized industries, changes in the American economy and demographics, federal employment laws supplanting traditional union roles, and today’s workers are less interested in unionization (Hunter, 1999).

The state of Hawaii has a population of 1.29 million inhabitants. A decrease in unionization will hurt the working class of Hawaii. The blue collar workers of Hawaii depend on the efforts of its union leaders to obtain the best possible benefits for the workers. There is a possibility that due to the lower presence of unions in Hawaii that there is going to be an increase in lower paying jobs in the economy of Hawaii. References Hunter, R. (1999). Four Reasons for the Decrease in Union Membership in Hawaii.

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