Strong economy, new tactics propel union membership

By MARC FORTIER AND KELLY STEINMETZ
Essex County Newspapers

BEVERLY — Labor experts and union leadership agree — union membership in the region is on the rise.

There are numerous reasons for this phenomenon, they say, including an increased emphasis on public relations, a policy of reaching out to new constituencies, and the country's economic health.

"Union membership is starting to increase," said John Mack, a Salem State College professor who studies labor/management relations.

He said the increase in union membership, even locally, is not dramatic by any means, but just the fact that it is rising at all is noteworthy.

"We're a very strong labor state. In the Northeast, we don't have any right-to-work states," he said, referring to states that discourage union activity, "so it's easier to organize people. Plus, the general populace is used to unions and dealing with unions."

"There certainly seems to be a growth," said David Weil, an associate professor of economics at Boston University who studies labor trends.

But the percentage jump, he said, appears to be stable, with much of the increase coming because of the growth in the workforce due to the strong economy.

"We're reaching out in a lot of different areas and I think even our opponents would agree we're on the move," said Jeff Crosby, president of the North Shore Labor Council, a regional group sponsored by the AFL-CIO that helps coordinate unions from Cape Ann to Saugus.

"The labor council has been growing consistently," Crosby said. "We've gone from 22 locals up to 42. We're nowhere close to where we're going to be, but I feel like we're on the field and making progress."

He had no specific figures outlining an increase in union membership throughout the region. "What I can tell you is there's been a lot of renewed effort and attention to organizing by (unions) in the area," Crosby said. "What goes around comes around, and I think things are starting to turn our way."

Examples include North Shore Ambulance employees unionizing, school bus drivers in Gloucester joining up with the Teamsters, and nurses at Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital deciding to organize.

"There are probably others," Crosby said. "There's just a lot of activity. We feel like public sentiment is going our way. There's increased activity and increased support. I think there was anti-union sentiment at one point, but people began to understand there's really nowhere to hide. There's chaos in every corner of the workplace."

A survey of some of the region's labor unions seemed to support Mack's and Crosby's assessments that union membership is on the upswing.

"I think union membership as a whole is increasing," said Alice Riley-King, president of Teamsters Local 42, which represents 1,500 workers from a variety of fields from Revere to Rockport. "But we here in Local 42 suffered a setback when Sylvania laid off 700 workers."

Another local union, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 149, was in a similar situation.

Its small membership has gone from a low of 155 workers to a high of 200. Right up until last August, its membership was increasing, but then the union lost 40 members when General Electric laid off workers, according to Michael Sidell, Local 149 president.

The business agent for the American Postal Workers Union in Danvers, Steve Albanese, was upbeat. "We're doing very well," he said. "There's a long labor history on the North Shore going back to the textile industry and the GE plant. Like any major industry, we've been facing automation and down sizing, but we've been able to maintain a fairly stable membership level despite that."

Julie Pinkham, labor program director for the Mass. Nurses Association, said union membership among nurses in the hospital industry is rising. In the past 24 to 28 months, the association helped 1,600 nurses from hospitals across the state to form unions, including those from Northeast Health Systems, the parent company of Beverly Hospital.

"We've never, ever had that many in a two-year period of time," Pinkham said.

Mack, the Salem State professor, said the key reason for the recent upswing in union membership is an increased emphasis by the unions on recruiting.

"The recruiting has started to pay off," he said. "What the unions have done is they have been very selective in who they have out there in the field."

Having better-educated field workers out trying to recruit new members and new groups to unionize has made a huge difference in convincing people of the benefits of union membership.

"They have backgrounds in labor relations," Mack said. "They're willing to go out and give the message and they just don't give up."

Albanese, of the postal workers union, agreed that public relations has become a key weapon for unions in recent years.

"The image of unions is changing," he noted. "There haven't been strikes for the most part. Strike activity has been way down. Sometimes it's a necessary tool, but it does hurt the image of unions.

"I think the image of the big, fat-cat labor boss is disappearing. We're getting people the average worker can associate with."

Unions also have been working to become more proficient in the way they negotiate, trying to get their message out to the public instead of striking.

"That's less militant in the eyes of the public," Albanese said. "They're not afraid to make their case to the public rather than stand on a picket line with placards. They're using public relations tactics."

"There has been a change in the approach unions have used to organize workers," added Boston University's Weil. "They've tried to take a different tack that is less confrontational. Their approach in the past had perhaps scared off potential members."

There has also been a greater effort by national union leadership to prepare local chapters with information so they are better prepared to face the media.

"That way, a consistent message is being sent all over the country," Albanese said. "I think they're learning to play the public relations game."

In addition, he said many unions are now approaching groups that were never considered for membership in the past.

"Unions are moving beyond their traditional jurisdictions. Even the American Postal Workers Union is starting now to organize mailing houses _ the people who handle mail but are not postal employees."

"I think what unions are doing now is, they're breaking their old organizing styles and tactics and starting to reach out to any workers with any possible connection to the type of work that they perform," he said.

Sidell echoed those sentiments when he said the reason membership in the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 149 has increased is that the union is picking up jobs it hadn't represented in the past, such as programmers and planners.

Tony Russo, business manager for Plumbers and Fitters Local 138 in Salem, thinks it's more than just the booming economy that has sparked the increase in union membership.

"I think it's because people want to come in and have a pension and have something once they've retired that they don't have if they're non-union," he said. "I just think they want something in return for putting forth their effort in what they're doing."

Riley-King similarly attributed the rise in membership at Teamsters Local 42 to the needs of workers.

"Basically, union membership is going up because people need representation, they want to enjoy health benefits, pensions and better wages," she said.

But she conceded the growth in membership can also indicate the economic health of an area.

Many of the workers Local 42 represents join the union automatically when they are hired to a position, said Riley-King. Therefore, increasing membership numbers can indicate that local companies are doing more hiring.

Although Pinkham feels union membership is climbing across the board, nurses have concrete reasons for organizing besides using unions as a way to form a "lawful workplace democracy."

"For us, it's been one long escapade of cuts," said Pinkham. "The industry has been in turmoil for a long time and nurses have taken the brunt of it for years."

"At a minimum, workers understand that they need their own voice," said Crosby, of the Labor Council. "We're just working harder at it. We didn't put the money and effort into organizing in the past that we are now."

And as the unions continue to approach groups that have not been considered for union membership in the past, membership should continue to grow, Professor Mack said.

"There's a whole group of workers out there that are what we call contingent workers who are not organized at all," he said. "Professions like home health aides for example, or medical assistants. There's a whole area where I look at that are just right for union membership."