Bureau of Labor Statistics
Major Union Mergers, Alliances, and Disaffiliations, 1995-2007
Originally Posted: September 24, 2008 U.S. labor unions have made moves toward maintaining their membership base through mergers that are still occurring, although at a slower pace than in past decades. Over the period from 1995 to 2007, union membership in the United States declined by about 4.2 percent, from approximately 16.4 million members to 15.7 million members.1 During the same period, the level of employment rose by about 17 percent--from 117 million in 1995 to 138 million in 2007.2 As a result, the percentage of U.S. workers represented by unions has declined, as well as the absolute number of union workers. These declines in membership have prompted union organizations to consider union mergers as a strategy for improving their bargaining power.3 This article summarizes the union mergers, alliances, and disaffiliations that have occurred since 1995.4 Types of mergersOver the years, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has encouraged and actively promoted mergers, stressing that mergers should involve unions representing workers in the same or related industries in order to build union power and conserve resources, while at the same time benefiting from the increased economy of scale.5 For this article, union mergers are grouped into three types:
The AFL-CIO has also maintained that union mergers must be voluntary and subject to the democratic processes of the unions involved. MergersFrom 1995 to 2007, there were 31 union mergers in the United States.6 Twenty-two of these mergers were among AFL-CIO affiliates, 6 occurred between the AFL-CIO and independent unions, and 3 mergers were among two or more independent unions. In terms of membership, the largest merger occurred in 2005, when the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) merged with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). The merger increased the size of the USWA to 860,000 members, making it the largest industrial union in the United States. In 2004, another merger of two major unions took place, uniting the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE), forming UNITE HERE, which has a combined membership of 440,000 workers. (See exhibit.) Disaffiliations and strategic alliancesDuring the 1995-2007 period, there were nine major union disaffiliations (splits) from the AFL-CIO. The first major union disaffiliation occurred in 2001, when the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) severed its relationship with the AFL-CIO. Then, in 2003, the International Union of Journeymen, Horseshoers, and Allied Trades disaffiliated with the AFL-CIO. In 2005, six of the largest unions joined with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) in disaffiliating with the AFL-CIO and created a strategic alliance called the Change to Win Federation.7 The six disaffiliated unions were the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the Laborers International Union (LIUNA), UNITE HERE, the United Farm Workers (UFW), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The Change to Win Federation states that it is conducting campaigns to increase union membership in each of the affiliated union’s core industries in order to rebuild worker power and unite millions in the growth industries of the 21st century.8 In 2006, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) and joined with the following unions to form a strategic alliance called the National Construction Alliance (NCA)9: the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers (BSOIW), and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC). The NCA represents more than 1.8 million union workers. Another notable alliance that formed during the 1995-2007 period is the Merchant Officers’ Labor Alliance (MOLA), an agreement reached in 2007 between the International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA).10 Similarly, in 2005, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) formed a joint alliance of passenger service workers at U.S. Airways. Union merger activity, 1956-2007The table that follows summarizes the three types of mergers and their yearly distribution for the period from 1956--the year following the merger of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)--to 2007. The table shows that 48 mergers occurred during the two decades following the AFL-CIO amalgamation (1956-75), averaging about 2.4 a year. The next decade (1976-85) marked the busiest activity period with 45 mergers, or about 4.5 a year. Merger activity slowed down slightly from 1986 to 1994, with a total of 40 mergers or an average of 4.4 per year. During the most recent period (1995-2007), there were only 31 mergers or about 2.4 per year. In the recent period, the highest level of union merger activity occurred in 2003, when there were 6 mergers; the lowest number occurred in 1997, when there was 1 merger.
Exhibit. Chronology of major union mergers, 1995-2007 1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Notes1 See Union Members in 2007, USDL 08-0092 (U.S. Department of Labor), January 25, 2008, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/union2_01252008.pdf; and Union Members in 1995, USDL 96-41, February 9, 1996, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/History/union2_020996.txt. 2 Employment data from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey. For more information, visit the CES home page at http://www.bls.gov/ces/. 3 A Plan to Help Workers Win: Uniting Our Power to Build a Stronger, Growing Labor Movement, Resolution 1 (AFL-CIO Executive Council), p. 5; available on the Internet at: http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/convention/2005/upload/res1.pdf (visited April 15, 2008). 4 For more information on union mergers during the previous 10-year period, see Lisa Williamson, "Union mergers: 1985-94 update," Monthly Labor Review, February 1995, pp. 18-25; available on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1995/02/art2full.pdf. 5 A Plan to Help Workers Win: Uniting Our Power to Build a Stronger, Growing Labor Movement, Resolution 1 (AFL-CIO Executive Council), p. 1. 6 Daily Labor Report archives, 1995-2007 (Bureau of National Affairs), on the Internet at http://www.bna.com. (visited March 18, 2008). 7 "Uniting for the American Dream," Resolution (Change to Win: The American Dream for America’s Workers), available on the Internet at http://www.changetowin.org/fileadmin/pdf/convention-2007-resolution-american_dream.pdf (visited August 12, 2008). For more information, visit the Change to Win website at http://www.changetowin.org/. 8 Ibid., 2007. 9 For more information on the National Construction Alliance (NCA), visit the organization’s website at http://www.ncabuild.org/. 10 More information on the formation of the Merchant Officers’ Labor Alliance can be found in the "What’s New?" section of the International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots website, on the Internet at www.bridgedeck.org. A copy of the agreement between the Masters, Mates, and Pilots and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association can be found at http://www.bridgedeck.org/WhatsNew/MOLA.pdf.
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