At 32, Michael Smith is starting a new career, training to be a unionized iron worker in Chattanooga.
After working as a mason for his uncle’s construction company, Smith said he was eager for the better wages and benefits available in a union job. So the Bledsoe County worker recently began a four-year apprenticeship with Iron Workers Local Union 704.
“My momma is in the Boilermakers union, and my cousin is in the Iron Workers local, so I know the advantages of being a part of the union,” Smith said during a gathering of labor supporters Saturday billed as “Putting a Face on Labor.”
By the numbers* 11.9: Percent of U.S. private sector workers who belonged to a labor union in 2010, down from 12.3 percent in 2009.* 4.7: Percent of Tennessee workers who belonged to a union in 2010, down from 5.1 percent in 2009.* 4: Percent of Georgia workers who belonged to a union in 2010, down from 4.6 percent in 2009.Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Smith is among a shrinking number of Tennessee and Georgia workers joining labor unions these days. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than one in 20 private-sector workers in Tennessee and Georgia belongs to a union. Union membership in the two states fell by 31,000 last year and is less than half the number of a decade ago.