James Lockhart says he has been a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Ironworkers Local 704 since he turned 18.
“I really can’t see why anyone would not want to be part of a union,” the 51-year-old president of the Central Labor Council of Chattanooga said. “Because of the union, I’ve never been without insurance and I’ve built a retirement that will allow me to retire at age 55. Not many nonunion workers can say that.”
Aas organized labor celebrates Labor Day at more than 200 rallies across the country, fewer Chattanoogans are following Lockhart’s example.
Chattanooga union locals haven’t had a Labor Day gathering in two years and there are no publicly promoted organizing campaigns under way in the Chattanooga region – even with major new manufacturers locating or expanding plants.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of Tennessee workers belonging to a labor union dropped by nearly 13 percent last year and union membership in the Volunteer State is now only about half what it was two decades ago.