Union membership, household income drops in Michigan

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/090406/loc_2006090438.shtml

Union membership, household income drops in Michigan as wages continue to fall nationwide

Web-posted Sep 4, 2006

LABOR DAY REPORT

By JOSEPH SZCZESNY
Of The Oakland Press

Long regarded as one of the last bastions of union influence, workers around Detroit are trying to cope with immense economic change that has altered the landscape completely over the last couple of years.

Union membership in Michigan dropped over the past year by more than one full percentage point to 20.5 percent in 2005 from 21.6 percent in 2004, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Separately, a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that median household income in Michigan fell 12 percent between 1999 and 2005.

In addition, the median income of Michigan residents dropped below the national median for the first time since the Census Bureau began tracking the figure back in the 1960s.

Nationwide, wages for men fell 1.8 percent while wages for women dropped 1.3 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Union membership in the private sectors has dropped to less than 10 percent of the work force.

FULL story at link above.

[liberalhistorian]

1. And this is a surprise to anyone with

half a brain cell because..........................................?

I moved to Rapid City, SD, from Ohio last summer and can't believe the difference economically. Ohio, like Michigan and several surrounding states, has an economy and job market that sucks royal egg feathers and people are sick to death of dealing with it, so many are just saying fuck it, packing up and leaving. Even lifelong residents, like me. And I don't miss that state one damned bit. I'm doing better here than I EVER did in Ohio, and I'm never going to deal with that again.

Being frustratingly broke for months, unable to find any job, being hassled by bloodsucking debt collectrolls instead of getting interviews for jobs, only to, in sheer desperation, take the first job offered and be fired months later because it wasn't the right job, then starting the whole mess all over again. There ARE NO JOBS in OH and MI, there just are NOT, it doesn't matter how much education and experience you may have. And people are sick of it, especially lifelong residents. That's why they're moving away in droves. I'm sure as hell NEVER going back to Ohio, ever. And all the so-called "leaders" of the state care about is gay marriage, abortion, etc. They don't give a shit about doing anything else, and are running their states right into the ground.

I live very close to Wyoming, and the job market in many areas of that state is booming, largely due to the expanding energy industry. They can't find enough workers. So, industry reps have made several recruiting trips to Michigan and Ohio, especially Michigan, to recruit workers and have found a steady supply of ready, willing and able workers who move to WY and are doing a great job so far, for the most part. And many of the transplanted workers say they're never going back to their home states.

Meanwhile, the "leaders" of those states jump up and down and stamp their feet and wring their hands about it, then go back to obsessing about gay marriage and abortion and strip clubs and porn and nothing else, all the while wondering why their states are going to hell and why everyone's leaving. DUH!