Manufacturing Unions’ Ranks Fall 3.2% in ’89

Membership in manufacturing-industry labor unions registered its biggest drop in three years in 1989, the Grant Thornton management consulting firm said.

The reason for the 3.2% drop: greater demand for high-tech workers.

“There are fewer unions in the high-tech area, and those that are, are not organizing as effectively,” said Selwin Price, a partner at Grant Thornton. High-tech workers “are better educated, higher skilled, and management might keep them happier.”

The study shows that union membership in manufacturing fell by 153,000 last year. That represents a 3.2% drop from 4.8 million members in 1988. It is the largest yearly decline since 1986. That year there was a decrease of 199,500 workers, or 3.8%.