The share of Tennesseans belonging to labor unions was only about half that of the U.S. average last year and organized labor lost its biggest organizing campaign this year in Chattanooga when Volkswagen workers voted 833-776 against joining the United Auto Workers union in June – the second such defeat by UAW in Chattanooga in the past five years.
But labor leaders insist unions are alive and well in Chattanooga and are reviving a Labor Day tradition Saturday to help showcase the role they play in the community.
Austin Sauerbrei, an organizer for the Chattanooga Area Labor Council who was brought on staff about a year ago, said Saturday’s parade and picnic “will be an opportunity to celebrate the everyday workers who teach our kids, build our buildings, deliver our mail, create the products we enjoy and keep our city running.”
The AFL-CIO represents more than 5,000 workers in the Chattanooga area employed in construction trades, manufacturing jobs, bus drivers and represented in service industry unions.
Lowest union membership states
1. South Carolina, 2.7%2. North Carolina, 2.7%3. Utah, 4.1%4. Texas, 4.3%5. Virginia, 4.3%6. Georgia, 4.5%7. Arkansas, 4.8%8. Louisiana, 5.0%9. Mississippi, 5.1%10. North Dakota, 5.2%11. Tennessee, 5.5%Source: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2018. Nationwide, 10.5% of all workers belong to labor unions.
“We’re seeing a lot of reactivation of our unions and their members and thinking about the work they do within a broader movement,” Sauerbrei said. “I think more people are seeing the need to recreate those ties, and Labor Day is a great opportunity to celebrate that sense of solidarity.”
The Chattanooga Area Labor Council is comprised of 18 local unions, which collectively are planning Saturday’s rally and picnic from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“These parades (which date back to 1882) help us to remember the historic struggles that have been faced by working families, the many advances we’ve made, and the work yet to be done,” he said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 155,000 Tennesseans were members of.a labor union last year, or 5.5% of the private sector workforce or about half of the U.S. rate of 10.5%. Gov. Bill Lee said the lower union presence in the state – and Tennessee’s right-to-work laws which don’t require those at union shops to join a labor union – make Tennessee more attractive to business.
But Billy Dycus, president of the Tennessee AFL-CIO, said in his Labor Day message that such laws and policies also keep wages lower in the state for working Tennesseans.
“In a state that politicians love to brand as attractive to businesses looking to put down roots, why are so many of our state’s workers struggling to get by while CEOs continue to get richer?” he said. “Wages in right-to-work states are consistently lower than those in states without right-to-work laws on the books.”
According to the AFL-CIO’s most recent Executive Paywatch, an S&P 500 CEO in Tennessee makes an average of over $12 million each year. Workers throughout the state, however, receive an annual average salary of just under $45,000, Dycus said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.