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Defying Predictions, Union Membership Isn't Dropping Post-Janus

Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene Governing
The Supreme Court’s ruling was expected to diminish union membership. But so far, many unions have actually increased their numbers since the verdict. Conservative groups are working to reverse that trend in the long run.

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'Roll Up Your Sleeves': At a Dark Time for U.S. Unions, This Woman Sees Hope

Mike Elk The Guardian
“If you look at the strongest unions today, they are our public sector education unions and these are unions that by and large are made up of women with women leaders,” says Lily Eskelsen García, the National Education Association president. “We aren’t not sitting by and accepting the status quo.”

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Number of Women, Minorities in Labor Leadership Called Dismal

Jaclyn Diaz Bloomberg Law/ Daily Labor Report
Leaders must also know when it’s time for a new person to take the helm. To keep new blood flowing through the labor movement, older leaders have to make room for their successors, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, said. “You have to get out of the way. You can’t just talk about it,” she said. “If you’re a leader, a strong leader, you step down and open that up to someone you believe reflects where this union needs to be.”

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Unions Flex Political Muscle at the Democratic National Convention -- But Uber and Airbnb Lurk

Justin Miller The American Prospect
The labor movement's agenda was on full display at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Union delegates numbered roughly one-quarter of the convention’s 4,000-plus delegates. Still, there were stark reminders that labor has struggled to keep at bay the party’s coziness with corporations, especially those of the Silicon Valley disruption variety. Ride-hailing giant Uber—not unionized taxi cabs—served as the DNC’s exclusive shuttle service.

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Clinton Wins Key NH Union Endorsements

Jonathan Easley The Hill
The New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association has endorsed Hillary Clinton. It is the largest public sector union in the State. She also received the endorsement of the 360,000 member United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry.

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Face of U.S. Unions Shifting More to Public-Sector Workers, Women

Tom Raum The Detroit News (Associated Press)
A majority of union members today now have ties to a government entity, at the federal, state or local levels. Roughly 1-in-3 public-sector workers is a union member, compared with about 1-in-15 for the private-sector workforce. The typical union worker now is more likely to be an educator, office worker or food or service industry employee rather than a construction worker, autoworker, electrician or mechanic. Far more women than men are in unions.

labor

Most Wisconsin School Unions Survive Elections

Associated Press Gazette Xtra
Scores of school worker unions mustered enough member votes in this year's re-certification elections to go on representing the employees in wage negotiations, according to data state labor relations officials released Thursday.

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Teachers Unions Face Moment of Truth

Stephanie Simon Politico
Teachers unions are facing tumultuous times, grappling with financial, legal and public-relations challenges as they fight to retain their clout and build alliances, and deal with declines in membership.

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Labor's Plan B

Abby Rapoport The American Prospect
Faced with the very real threat of extinction, unions have largely put collective bargaining on the back burner, and instead must try to remind American workers of the basic concept of worker solidarity. “We start from the point of view that, because so few people are in unions these days, very few people have personal experience with collective power,” explains Karen Nussbaum, the executive director of Working America.
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