Idaho’s union rate among the lowest

Eric Louis pays out about $600 each year on union dues, money the Coeur d’Alene High School English teacher considers well spent.

“I can’t imagine not being a member of a union,” he said Friday from his classroom, where he was supervising an after-school meeting of the yearbook staff. “The union backs me up.”

Louis is a minority among Idaho workers. Barely 5 percent of the state’s working population belongs to a union, a rate far below the national average of 12.5 percent, according to figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite robust state job growth in 2005, union membership in Idaho dropped from 33,000 to 31,000. Labor leaders blame the slippage on the closure of a large meat packing plant, potato processing facility and fertilizer factory in southern Idaho.

But the decline is more than a one-time event. Idaho – known for a rich and volatile labor history, including an 1899 Silver Valley riot that resulted in a commandeered train, blown-up mill and months of martial law – now has one of the lowest union rates in the nation.

Part of the decline correlates with the loss of resource jobs, said Dave Whaley, president of AFL-CIO Idaho. The Steelworkers still represent Silver Valley miners, but 25 years of mine closures have thinned their ranks. Fewer mills operate in Idaho, and fewer of those workers have collective bargaining.

Declining union membership also follows national patterns. Membership peaked in 1983, when 20 percent of the nation’s working population belonged to a union.

In addition, Whaley lays blame on Idaho’s right-to-work law. The law bans unions from requiring that employees join or pay dues as a condition of employment. Confusion over the law also suppresses union membership, Whaley said. “We have workers out there … who think the law stops them from organizing a union,” he said. “It’s pounded and preached to them.”

Idaho is one of 21 states with a right-to-work law. In Washington, which doesn’t have the law, 19 percent of the work force belongs to a union.

Idaho’s right-to-work law dates to 1985, when the Republican-controlled Legislature approved it over the veto of then-Democratic Gov. John Evans. State voters ratified the law the following year.

AFL-CIO Idaho is making a third attempt to overturn the law this year. Whaley is trying to gather enough signatures to put a right-to-work referendum on the November ballot.

To qualify as a ballot initiative, proponents need 47,881 signatures of registered voters by Feb. 21. Organizers are about halfway to their goal, according to Whaley.

Two years ago, the initiative failed to gather enough signatures to win a spot on the ballot. An earlier effort to repeal the law through the Legislature also failed.

In spite of the overall decline, union membership is growing in some industries, Whaley said. The Communications Workers of America is gaining members in Idaho, he noted. The union represents employees at Qwest and Verizon.

Despite the long-term trends, Whaley said he’s optimistic about the future of unions in the state. Workers are concerned about the security of their pensions, their health insurance and their pay. Collective bargaining strengthens their voice on those issues, he said.

Statewide and nationally, local government workers remain a labor stronghold. Across the U.S., nearly 42 percent of local government workers are union members. The group includes teachers, police officers and firefighters.

With almost 12,000 members, the Idaho Education Association is the state’s largest union. It’s been representing teachers since 1892.

IEA President Sherri Wood credits the union’s longevity to its focus on professional development for teachers, as well as collective bargaining and lobbying efforts.

“Educators are very busy people,” said Wood, a former special education teacher from Caldwell. “They’re at the schoolhouse at 7 in the morning, and many don’t leave until 7 at night.”

They need a professional association to track what’s happening in the Legislature, and to interpret how proposed laws could affect them, Wood said.

Louis, the Coeur d’Alene High School teacher, said he likes the security of being able to call the union if the need for a grievance or mediation arises.

That assurance “makes my day a lot easier,” Louis said.