Laborfest kicks off amid record-low union membership in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It's the biggest celebration of organized workers in Wisconsin, but Milwaukee's Laborfest has fewer people joining the party. According to federal labor statistics, the rate of union membership in Wisconsin is at an all-time low.

As Monday's parade stepped off, union leaders maintained a trend of declining membership was going to reverse.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6.4% of Wisconsin's wage and salary workers are in a union. Wisconsin's union membership rate was 7.4% one year earlier.

Wisconsin is well below its neighbor states as Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois all have union membership rates of either 13% or 14%. Elsewhere in the upper Midwest, Indiana has a membership rate of 9.0%, while Iowa's 6.4% rate mirrors Wisconsin.

The national union membership rate is 9.9%. The all-time high for union membership in Wisconsin was 20.9% back in 1989.

Labor leaders believe the declining rates are the legacy of legislation enacted by Republicans under former Governor Scott Walker in the 2010s.

"We're still feeling the effects of Act 10 and the right-to-work laws that were passed in Wisconsin," Milwaukee Area Labor Council President Pam Fendt said. "I think we're probably seeing the lowest that we're gonna do, and we're gonna start to see those numbers pick back up again next year."

Fendt said Act 10 had an especially large impact. The 2011 law eliminated the vast majority of collective bargaining rights for public sector unions. Right-to-work legislation also had a noticeable impact, as the state's union membership rate dropped from 11.7% in 2014 to 8.3% in 2015, the year that law was enacted.

Right-to-work laws prohibit employers from having agreements with labor organizations requiring that workers are part of a union.

Labor leaders said they were making an effort to reach a wider base of workers. In multiple interviews, laborers mentioned reaching the next generation of workers as a primary goal.

"A lot of young people coming into industries now that don't know the value of the labor union and how much it can help," Jeff Vogel, president of the Local 577 printer's union, said. "We have to reach out to the young people more and get that message across, so they understand what we do and what we can do for them."

Another way to accelerate change would be changing the law. Chris Taylor, a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court who's backed by Democrats, was at the Laborfest parade Monday.

Taylor is currently an appellate court judge. Before sitting on the bench, she was a Democratic state lawmaker. Taylor now seeks to replace GOP-backed Justice Rebecca Bradley, who announced last week she won't seek another 10-year term next year, opening the door to an open race.

When asked Monday if she believed either the Act 10 or right-to-work laws were unconstitutional, Taylor declined to address those specific laws but said she believed legislation had hurt workers' rights in recent years.

"Those issues may come before the state Supreme Court, so of course, I can't comment on them, but what I will say is courts have a role in protecting the rights of working people," Taylor said. "I mean, it's certainly possible that the legal changes that have been made, and I was in the Legislature when these changes were going on, had an impact on collective bargaining and what we're seeing with unions in this state."

For now, a common theme at Laborfest was a need to convince a broader share of the workforce it pays more to unionize.

"I think the word just needs to get out there more and let some of these younger people know that it's a great career opportunity," Jerry Marzullo, a construction flagger, said. "I think a lot of people shy away from it because they think it's dirty or may not be for them."

Mabel Planter, who's worked in the offices of Laborers Local 113 for 20 years and is now the union's office manager, said unions should do more to recruit women. Her union recently began a women's caucus for the first time in its history.

"I think we need to encourage more people to join the unions and to make sure they know we do promote family-sustaining wages," she said. "We do promote benefits that are gonna keep you and your family able to pay your bills."

Fendt referred to the ongoing efforts by workers at Milwaukee's Pathfinders clinic to form a union. She said she was also encouraged by unionization efforts in the service and entertainment industries.

Ultimately, however, it will need to start showing up in the numbers.

"I'm hoping we can reverse those trends," Vogel said.