U.S. trade union population takes a hit
Membership in construction trade unions declined for the second straight year, dropping nearly a full percentage point from 2001 to 2002. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 17.2 percent of the U.S. construction workforce was unionized in 2002, down from 18.1 percent in 2001.

The 2002 percentage translates into 1,184,000 million unionized construction workers in the U.S.

"The union membership rate has steadily declined from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available," the BLS said, although the statement wasn't quite accurate. Prior to 2002, construction union membership had gained in five out of six years.

Still, construction remains one of the most highly unionized job sectors, trailing only the transportation and public utility industries.

Robert Gasperow, executive director of the Construction Labor Research Council, told the Construction Labor Report that the drop in union representation rates come as no surprise. He said the boom in residential construction - which now accounts for an astounding 40 percent of all construction - largely benefited nonunion workers. In the meantime, industrial construction, which employs more union workers, dropped 40 percent last year.

Carl Shaffer, director of organizing for the AFL-CIO Building Trades Department, told the Construction Labor Report that "clearly our actions have not matched our rhetoric." He said to reverse the decline, unions need to do a better job of involving members in organizing and coordinating organizing efforts among unions.

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO released its membership numbers on Feb. 26, and the federation showed a decline of 72,788 members, or about a half-percent, in 2002. There are now 13,181,282 union members in the federation. These numbers are slightly different from BLS numbers, which include both affiliates of the AFL-CIO and those who aren't.

The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers had the fourth-highest growth totals among all AFL-CIO affiliated unions, gaining 20,991 workers in 2002.

Coors boycott ends after settlement
A six-month lockout of 429 workers employed by Graphic Packaging of Kalamazoo ended Jan. 27 when the workers voted to accept a new contract.

"No one is pleased with the contract, but six months is a long time to have your livelihood taken away from you, and we clearly understand why our members voted for it," said Bill Gibbons, vice president of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE).

The union said it would remain vigilant to see that individual workers are not harmed by the onerous provisions that the company imposed on the workers under the new five-year contract. The company locked the workers out even before their old contract expired. Workers had refused to yield to company demands for mandatory work for up to seven days a week--including every holiday except Christmas--and for up to 16 hours a day.

Given that the brewer Coors controls Graphic Packaging - it owns 41 percent of the common stock and all of the preferred stock - PACE and the AFL-CIO targeted Coors for a boycott, which has ended.