Many service-sector workers are ripe for organizing, Mr. Clements said. The traditional low pay and benefits such jobs provide make union packages look great, he said, but workers also are motivated by their desire to have a voice at their workplace. Union organizing drives have been more successful recently, Mr. Clements said. In 1998, unions across the Midwest won about 52 percent of their organizing elections, as opposed to about 40 percent during the early 1990s, he said. The AFL-CIO is taking the lead in encouraging unions to devote more of their budgets to organizing drives, Mr. Messer said.
More members means more clout.
Even 25 percent of a budget devoted to organizing is a step up. Despite the recent increase in organizing, unions still have a way to go, Mr. Clements said. About 30 percent of private-sector jobs were union in 1970, compared to about 11 percent today, Mr. Clements said. Mr. Clements said. Copyright 1999, Moline Dispatch Publishing Co.