In recent months the North Carolina AFL-CIO has been working overtime to portray itself as mainstream and supportive of the needs of the “99 percent of Americans who work for 1 percent of the people.” See here and here.
Aided by a pro-union president and sluggish economy, unions are hoping to tap into what they perceive to be widespread anger against unjust distribution of wealth and opportunity in this country and in the process grow their membership rolls.
So how is that effort to represent more mainstream values working out in NC? According to the Bureau Labor Statistics only 105,000 of the state’s 3,598,000 wage and salary workers are members of unions. As a percentage of the workforce who are active members of unions, North Carolina ranks fiftieth among the states at 2.9 percent.
About that union claim to represent the 99 percent? Let’s revise that. How about 2.9 percent? That’s more accurate.
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