# rank and file union members are now Republican? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463 "2012-02-20T22:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463/21 "2012-02-21T22:54:49Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Oh, please do us the favor of letting us know where you acquired this information, as I have a feeling it will be something like “I contemplated the Platonic Form of the Union Member.” Yes, while working in an old-school unionized industrial facility for 30 years. The difference is that in Canada it is the opposite; the socialist NDP has convinced the extremely conservative union memebrship that they protect their interests while telling the typical social wefare recipients they protect thier interests too. But, as mentioned by others, the union base has been shrinking; so the majority of members are older, have worked there a long time; so older, blue collar, not many minorities… usually socially conservative. As for the hijack: It’s been my observation that an employer gets the union they deserve. You get militant unions when the bosses act like dicks. In my experience with a lot of teachers in extra-curricular groups, teachers seem to have the most petty environments; they get it from both sides - parents and from school administration. The “you can’t fire me I’m in the union” mentality comes from bosses who seem to think they can fire at will. Workers pull together to cover their butts when they see that nobody is safe. It takes two to tango… It’s not all the union’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463/22 "2012-02-22T02:40:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But bear in mind that union membership isn’t what it was. Heavy industry and manufacturing have shrunk drastically in the USA, and a large percentage of CURRENT union members are employed by federal, state and local governments. That is an overstatement on both accounts. Since 1983, total union membership has declined from 17.7 million to 14.8 million, or 17%; significant, but anything near drastic. And public sector unions only lead private sector unions by 7.6 million to 7.2 million, or slightly more than 5%; hardly a large percentage by any estimation. > **[Union Members Summary - 2024 A01 Results](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm)** ---
**Author:** ![Ubiquity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a5b964/32.png) [@Ubiquity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ubiquity)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463/23 "2012-02-22T03:06:04Z")
Unions are nothing more than a money laundering scheme. Maybe back in the 30’s they had a purpose but in today’s world they’re a scam. If “right to work” laws were the norm the pigs would have to find a new slop trough. Of course,people vote their values,but union affiliation isn’t even in the top ten. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463/24 "2012-02-22T03:07:12Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > As has been amply demonstrated by the resounding—nay, deafening!—absence of even a single cite in favor of this proposition despite the repeated assurances of multiple conservatives that this is the case (and, of course, the OP’s own request for “information only,” which may be distinguished, one surmises, from conjecture and flat assertion). > > This is no surprise, of course. It is a long-established fact, too well-known and widely accepted to require any further substantiation, that conservatives are not above talking out of their ass when convenient.\* > > - Posters more astute than some of our conservative commentators will see what I have done here. Riiiight… Reagan Democrats were a myth. Go back to sleep now, Kimmy. The Reagan years never really happened. Jimmy Carter won by a landslide. So did Adlai Stevenson. White blue collar union men would never DREAM of voting anything but a straight Democratic ticker. All is well with the world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-and-file-union-members-are-now-republican/613463.md?page=1)