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Decline in union membership affects the middle class

Decline in union membership affects the middle class

Union membership has dropped steeply since the 1980s because of forces such as globalization, new technology and the shift from a manufacturing to a service economy. Now public-sector unions are under attack, too, and the future of organized labor hangs in the balance. John McClendon, associate professor of human resources management at Temple's Fox School of Business, says as unions have declined, the middle class in general has lost ground. "As we see middle-class wages stagnating over the last generation, one of the arguments is that they lack bargaining power," he said.
March 31, 2011 | KYW News Radio