Observer-Dispatch (Utica, New York), June 11, 2006, Sunday

Copyright 2006 Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY)
All Rights Reserved
Observer-Dispatch (Utica, New York)

June 11, 2006 Sunday 1 Edition

SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. 1A

HEADLINE: Unions losing members

BYLINE: Roger D. Batson Jr.

BODY:
Number of workers drops 50% in 10 years
By ROGER D. BATSON JR.
Syracuse University
Capstone Program
The number of unionized jobs in the Utica-Rome area plummeted more than 50 percent in the past decade because of the loss of Griffiss Air Force Base, manufacturing jobs and population, according to census and jobs data, researchers and local union officials.
The loss of unionized jobs has occurred much faster than in the rest of the country, in part because the region had a significantly larger union presence than the national average, figures show:
* The percentage of unionized jobs locally dropped from 33.2 percent in 1995 to 19.5 percent a decade later.
* In contrast, the national decline in union jobs during that period was 14.9 percent to 12.5 percent.
For many decades, union jobs equated with well-paying jobs locally. But the shuttering of factories has sent many former union workers to lower-paying jobs in distribution warehouses and service-sector jobs, while providing limited opportunities for high pay among younger workers who lack a college education.
Labor analyst Alice Savino, executive director for the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida counties, said the numbers represent a change in the type of employers that are in the area.
"I don't think the type of manufacturing jobs that existed in the past are coming back," she said. "But the types of manufacturing jobs that will be here are ones that are more efficient and take advantage of the latest production technologies."
Those types of employers, Savino said, "tend to be less willing to offer more benefits and pension plans, which are what many union members have come to expect."
The falling union numbers come from research conducted by Trinity University Professor Barry Hirsch and Florida State University Professor David MacPherson, both long-time labor economists. Their study of unionization trends has been published in Cornell University's labor journal, Industrial and Labor Relations Review. Updated information is available online at www.unionstats.com.
The study estimates that in 1995, the year Griffiss closed, the Mohawk Valley was home to 49,990 unionized workers. By last year, that figure was only 24,074, according to the study based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One of the individuals no longer counted in the total is Bernard Coffay of Utica, who worked for several decades as an electrician before retiring in 2004. He was a longtime member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Coffay, 59, recalls that when he was starting out, there was an abundance of jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector. He credits the union for training him and other workers to fill those jobs.
"When I first started out, there was a lot of pride in being a union member," the 1966 Notre Dame High School graduate and Army veteran said. "You don't see it like that nowadays."
He added, "I feel sorry for the kids who are starting out today, because I think that what I did would be hard to do these days."
Joseph DiCesare, business manager and secretary-treasurer for the Laborers' International Union of North America-AFL-CIO Local 35, began his union career more than 30 years ago. He said the falling numbers are not surprising and reflect larger changes in the region's population and economy.
"It's a ripple effect," he said. "Industry leaves the area and it affects the whole economy. It's kind of like the price of gas these days with one thing affecting another."
DiCesare said the loss of the area's manufacturing core A- which included losing 9,200 factory jobs between 1990 and 2005 -- has forced many workers to seek jobs elsewhere for lack of opportunities.
"Years ago, we had all kinds of industry here, and this area was more unionized than in other places like down South," he said. "The trend is changing now where things aren't as fixed as they used to be."
In addition to economic woes, unions also have faced public image problems. Reports in the 1990s of high salaries for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1 officials and a criminal prosecution involving some union leaders left many in the public questioning the role of many unions, leaders of other unions acknowledge.
"We always thought we had this positive public perception on our side," said Al Van Hoven, secretary-treasurer/business agent for Teamsters Local 182. "But somehow we let our image become not what we wanted."
Another image problem he cited has been the public perception that unions are anti-business as in the case of Scheidelman's grocery warehouse, which announced earlier this year it was shutting down following a labor dispute.
"Somehow we got this unfair label making us out to be the bad guys when in fact what we do is make companies accountable," Van Hoven said. "I'm not saying that every union has been perfect, but I don't think it's fair to say that we have had any more problems in our organizations than in any other industry."
Researcher Hirsh said the numbers are taken from a sampling of labor statistics and are meant to be more of a barometer of union membership rather than an exact figure.
"There are no easy answers as to why the numbers are falling," he said. "This is part of a national trend."
Roger D. Batson Jr. is one of 14 Syracuse University Capstone Program master's students collaborating with the Observer-Dispatch on a project about local nonprofit agencies.
Key factors in decline
1Loss of manufacturing: Most private-employee union members worked at manufacturing plants, a vanishing breed of employer in the Mohawk Valley.
2More service jobs: For the most part, service-oriented jobs such as check processing and warehouse/distribution are not unionized. Wal-Mart has become a major employer in the region through its warehouse and multiple SuperCenter stores: Its workers are not unionized.
3Loss of population: Oneida County lost more than 15,000 people during the 1990s.
4Changing views: People who are grandparents today grew up in a world where union membership was common and many people worked for one company their whole life. Today's young people are more mobile and tend to change jobs frequently.