Nation’s Economic Woes Hit Black Workers Hardest

by via James Parks, AFL-CIO

Wed, Feb 27, 2008 7:18AM

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 : The share of African American manufacturing workers has declined by nearly 60 percent in the past 30 years. All workers have suffered in the seven years that President Bush has been in office. But black workers, even those in unions, have been hit hardest. African American incomes are dropping at the same time fewer African Americans belong to unions.

The percentage of African Americans who either are members of or represented by unions fell by half from 31.7 percent of all black workers in 1983 to 15.7 percent last year, according to a new report by the Center for Economic Policy and Research. Still, several studies have shown African Americans are more likely to join unions than other workers.

The report, The Decline in African-American Representation in Unions and Manufacturing, 1979–2007, shows much of the decline is due to the loss of manufacturing jobs. Between 1979 and 2006, the share of all African American workers who worked in manufacturing declined from 23.9 percent to 9.8 percent, a drop of nearly 60 percent. Manufacturing jobs, especially good-paying union jobs in the auto industry, played a big role in creating the black middle class.

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For more information: http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/02/26/nations-...

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