Pathways for Economic Stability Under Union Decline in the States

• In Event: Unions in a Changing World

Abstract

Labor union membership has declined unequally across states over the last forty years, with the largest unionized population in many states being state and municipal employees. Meanwhile state governments have buckled with budget crises, often criticizing the public provision of benefits, for employees and to the public, as being unsustainable. What pathways do citizens have to achieve economic stability, through social movements, liberal policy, or a market, and how have the options changed over time? To answer this question, I conceptualize states on two dimensions: degree of redistribution from public policy, and degree of control within the workplace. While many states are high in both dimensions, or low in both, some are a mixture. I examine states with more solidaristic public policy but low levels of worker control (New Jersey, Connecticut), as well as states that are highly unionized but otherwise conservative and market-oriented (West Virginia, Indiana). State governments under constraint, and with lower levels of labor involvement, offer different economic pathways to citizens than they had previously. Where citizens could achieve some degree of economic certainty either through redistribution, or from workplace benefits (pensions, healthcare, leave for injury and illness), there is a real possibility now that neither state governments nor private industry will meet those needs. As labor membership continues to decline and cannot pressure market-based institutions, there is an increased pressure on state governments to redistribute funds that they are either unable or unwilling to deliver.

Author

• Laura C. Bucci, Saint Joseph's University