New book by Howard Stanger, PhD, examines challenges, opportunities that could define the future of unions
A new book co-edited by Canisius University Management Professor Howard R. Stanger, PhD, examines the long-term decline of union membership and collective bargaining in the United States, while highlighting signs of a potential resurgence.
“Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining at a Critical Moment: Opportunities for Renewal or Continued Decline,” is the latest volume in a Labor and Employment Relations Association Series. Stanger, whose research focuses on historical and contemporary labor relations in printing, newspapers and digital media, has contributed to three of the series’ annual research volumes on collective bargaining in the United States (2002, 2013 and 2024). He has also published extensively on Buffalo’s Larkin Company, employers’ associations, and other topics related to business and labor history.
“After decades of stagnation, we may be witnessing a pivotal moment for American labor,” said Stanger. “This volume explores both the challenges and opportunities that could define the future of unions and collective bargaining in the U.S.”
According to Stanger, union density peaked at 34.8% of the workforce in 1954 but fell steadily in the decades since. By 2021, only 10.3% of workers were union members, with just 6.1% in the private sector—lower than the rate in 1890.
“Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining at a Critical Moment” analyzes the factors driving the decline, including structural shifts in the economy, employer opposition, weak labor laws and challenges within organized labor itself. Yet contributors to this volume also point to renewed momentum: growing worker activism, especially in sectors like fast food, retail, warehouses, high tech, newspapers and digital media, coupled with a widening “voice gap” between employees’ expectations and their influence at work.
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Submitted by: University Communications
