The United Auto Workers union, hurt by layoffs and retirements in the automotive and manufacturing sectors, suffered a 10% drop in membership last year, the Detroit News reported.
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With the weak economy failing to create or stem a loss of manufacturing jobs, the union ended 2002 with 638,722 members, down sharply from 701,818 in 2001, the newspaper added.
The Detroit News said the figures were reported in the union’s latest annual financial report filed with the US Department of Labour.
The paper noted that Detroit vehicle makers – responding to lower sales and a steady loss of market share to Asian and European rivals – cut output last year and also did not replace many workers who retired.
According to the Detroit News, analysts say the drop underscores a wider loss of union power in the United States although the UAW’s decline appears to be larger than the national average.
Private sector unions overall lost 4.8 percent of their members in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labour statistics, the paper noted, adding that the UAW’s active membership ranks fluctuate widely from month to month based on various factors, such as layoffs, retirements and the addition of new members.
For that reason, the Detroit News added, the union says a more accurate account of membership trends is the monthly average over a 12-month period, which totaled 675,898 in 2002.
The union, however, blamed unfair trade practices, the transfer of manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages and sluggish economic growth under the Bush administration for the latest drop, the paper said.
“The UAW’s membership has declined in recent years because of the steady losses in the union’s core industries,” UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement cited by the Detroit News. “The manufacturing sector alone has lost 2 million jobs since George W. Bush took office.”
The paper said the union has also fallen short in attempts to recruit the growing number of workers at US plants operated by Asian and European vehicle makers.
The latest decline in members offset a series of organising [unionising] victories the union has enjoyed in recent months at Johnson Controls, Freightliner LLC and other companies, the Detroit News said.
The paper added that the union is counting on a new commitment to organising automotive suppliers – a heavily non-union sector – to stem membership losses.
But analysts told the Detroit News that the steady rollbacks in production at Detroit vehicle makers are offsetting organising successes, analysts say.
