wholesale restructuring or "U-turn" in American wages and management-employee relationships in the corporate arena, which was largely manifested in policies and negotiations that resulted in worker wage concessions on one hand, or strategies that allowed management to avoid unions altogether, such as using two-tiered wage scales for entry-level workers, or outsourcing of labor via temporary help or subcontractors. The figures for union membership as of 1995 are dramatically different from those as of 1935, when the Wagner Act guaranteed American workers the right to bargain collectively. In 1955, 33.2% of the workforce was unionized; by 1995, between 15% and 16% was unionized, and only 10.9% of the private-sector workforce was unionized (Will, 1995; Tucker, 1994). Only one private-sector union, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, has "grown like Topsy--by 500,000 members during the last 15 years, doubling its size. . . . SEIU represents janitors, doormen and other support workers in commercial buildings, and service workers such as those delive
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