The goals of trade unions are to protect the jobs and the wages of union members. When a union negotiates a wage and benefit package with a company under a collective bargaining agreement, both the union and the employer recognize that the outcome of the negotiation not only affects the parties to the negotiation. The outcome of the negotiation over a collective bargaining agreement can become a standard against which similar contract negotiations are conducted.
Strikes and other work actions such as slowdowns and sick-outs can be symbolic or they can be an effective tool to remind management about the importance of exercising good judgment, restraint and discretion in discussions and negotiations with union representatives. Sometimes, and in particular when contract negotiations not progressing or negotiations are becoming contentious, union workers can express their concern and displeasure in a variety of ways. For example, the union itself or union members can organize a work slow down, a sick out, a wildcat strike. Unionized workers can refuse to work overtime or slow work down by following to the letter every work and safety rule.
Actually, strikes by unionized workers are rare. Strikes or work stoppages are considered by most unions to be a last resort. Sometimes, they are seen as a failure to reach a reasonable compromise. Sometimes, strikes are the only way that workers can let management know how serious and how important they consider the points included in the labor contract being negotiated.
According to an essay published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12.5 percent of wage and salary workers were union members in 2004. This is down slightly from 12.9 percent of the labor force in 2003. In the United States, union membership rates have declined since 1983. In 1983, 20.1 percent of the labor force was part of a union.
Declining membership does not mean...