Union membership in public sector trades drop to ‘record lows’ after Janus ruling

Public sector unions could have the ear of the White House below President Biden, however they’re additionally shedding members within the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Janus determination.

A newly launched report discovered that the 4 largest public sector commerce unions misplaced a mean of 10% of their membership within the 5 years because the 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which ended the requirement for non-union authorities employees to pay union dues or charges as a situation of employment.

“The declines have brought membership in some unions to the lowest levels on record and show no signs of abating,” stated the union watchdog in its June report, “Janus v. AFSCME at Five: Government Union Membership at Record Lows.”

The court docket’s determination wasn’t the loss of life knell that some had predicted, however enrollment within the “big four” authorities unions – AFSCME, SEIU, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers – has plummeted within the final 5 years by a mixed 733,745 members.

The basis traced union membership and dues because the Supreme Court’s determination in AFSCME v. Janus, which struck down legal guidelines in 22 states that obligated authorities employees to pay charges to labor unions and required unions to hunt affirmative consent for membership.

Figures from the LM-2 monetary studies filed with the Department of Labor discovered that AFSCME – the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – disclosed 1,051,671 members as of Dec. 31, 2022, a decline of 16.3% from its final report previous to Janus.

“This is not only the steepest decline of the four unions, but places AFSCME’s membership at the lowest on record,” stated the report. “If recent trends continue, AFSCME could drop below one million members by the end of 2023.”

Membership dues “declined 20 percent from $186 million in Dec. 2017 to an inflation-adjusted $148 million in Dec. 2022,” stated the report by Maxford Nelsen, the muse’s director of labor coverage.

The NEA noticed its membership fall by 7.6% to 2,463,976 from 2017-22, whereas the AFT’s enrollment dropped to 1,192,252 throughout that interval for a decline of 9.5%.

“AFT membership is now at its lowest level since 2014, erasing the additional growth AFT experienced following its string of mergers with NEA affiliates,” stated the muse.

Both lecturers’ unions additionally skilled drops in dues. The NEA’s annual dues collected from native associates fell by $310 million, or 16%, whereas the AFT declined by 9% to $180 million.

The SEIU, or Service Employees International Union, reported 1,790,376 members, a decline of 10.1% from 2017, representing “the fewest working members the union has reported since 2006.” Revenue fell 29% adjusted for inflation from $281 million in 2017 to $199 million in 2022.

Union enrollment has been on the downswing for many years, however the report stated membership stabilized following the 2008 Great Recession and the pre-Janus passage of collective bargaining reforms in states like Wisconsin.

Since Janus, nonetheless, membership has “steadily declined,” the report stated.

The Freedom Foundation isn’t impartial on Janus: It submitted an amicus temporary in favor of the plaintiff, Illinois authorities employee Mark Janus, and has tangled for years with unions like AFSCME.

In 2020, AFSCME referred to as the muse “the same billionaire-funded group that was behind the Janus v. AFSCME case in 2018, seeking to destroy workers’ rights and derail labor unions while taking away workers’ freedom to demand a voice on the job and a seat at the table in the workplace.”

Despite the drops in membership and income, labor unions stay politically influential. They have a robust ally in President Biden, an unabashed “union man” who calls himself probably the most pro-labor president in U.S. historical past.

“Joe Biden is the most pro-worker president of our lifetime,” stated AFSCME President Lee Saunders in his June 16 endorsement of Mr. Biden’s 2024 reelection bid. “He respects and protects working people – especially front-line public service workers – and the essential work they do.”

This month marks the fifth anniversary of Janus v. AFSCME, try what number of public sector staff have left their union since: https://t.co/AsojNaZ1Vj pic.twitter.com/C9LVf9BXc2

— Freedom Foundation (@FreedomFdtn) June 22, 2023

Even as their membership dwindles, labor spending on political campaigns has elevated.

Public sector unions contributed $83 million to overwhelmingly Democrat and liberal candidates and causes within the 2022 midterm marketing campaign cycle, a 48% improve from the $56 million spent through the 2018 midterms, in line with Open Secrets.

The authorities unions spent $93 million within the 2020 election, which noticed most labor teams, together with the “big four” public sector unions, again Mr. Biden.

Shortly after taking workplace in 2021, Mr. Biden started overhauling the National Labor Relations Board, firing Trump-era normal counsel Peter Robb and appointing two pro-union members to provide the board a 3-2 Democrat majority.

He additionally fashioned the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, which seeks to seek out “new ways the executive branch can facilitate the organizing of workers.”

As dismal because the enrollment and dues numbers search for unions, they could really be worse than mirrored on the LM-2 varieties, that are solely required to be filed by unions that characterize some non-public sector employees unaffected by the Janus determination.

“Further, 27 states already had right-to-work laws on the books at the time Janus was decided, so union membership was already optional for public employees in those states,” the report stated. 

“Consequently, for the unions’ nationwide membership to decline by 10 percent, membership among the portions of its public-sector members affected by Janus would have had to plummet even further.”

In addition, the variety of authorities staff on the county, state and federal stage has continued to develop general within the final 5 years, that means that the unions are each shedding members and failing to enroll new employees.

Government-employee unions just like the NEA have reacted by doubling down on “partisan politics,” the muse stated.

The NEA was the largest marketing campaign spender of the general public sector unions within the 2021-22 election cycle, contributing $23 million virtually completely to Democrat and liberal candidates and committees, adopted by the NEA Advocacy Fund at $16 million.