Inside Higher Ed: Union U
SILVER SPRING, MD. – Ethan is indeed a rare breed. Trotting through the administrative offices of the National Labor College on a recent Tuesday morning, the German Shepherd/Chinese Shar Pei mix is just about the only “worker” on campus who has yet to secure a contract with management.
“He works off of love and bones,” says Carol Rodgers, Ethan’s owner and the college’s associate provost for external relations.
Welcome to the National Labor College, where library visitors are greeted by a bronze sculpture of George Meany, the plumber turned A.F.L.-C.I.O. president who first envisioned the campus. But much has changed in the labor movement since Meany started building it up more than 50 years ago. Unions are at a crossroads, and many question how they will retool themselves for the 21st century. Membership fell to about 12 percent of the workforce in 2008, down from 20 percent in 1983 when comparable data first became available, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Follow
