Wisconsin unions used to be able to force employees to pay union dues, even if said employee did not wish to belong to a union. That changed in 2011 when Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed his budget repair bill, after a bitter battle, and allowed employees to opt out of paying those dues.
Washington Examiner provides the data from Labor Department filings and finds that public sector union membership has plunged:
According a Labor Department filing made last week, membership at Wisconsin’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 40 — one of AFSCME’s four branches in the state — has gone from the 31,730 it reported in 2011, to 29,777 in 2012, to just 20,488 now. That’s a drop of more than 11,000 — about a third — in just two years. The council represents city and county employees outside of Milwaukee County and child care workers across Wisconsin.
Labor Department filings also show that Wisconsin’s AFSCME Council 48, which represents city and county workers in Milwaukee County, went from 9,043 members in 2011, to 6,046 in 2012, to just 3,498 now.
These numbers come from the locals’ LM-2 filings, annual reports they must make to Labor Department. They can be found here.
Walker's budget repair bill also required union employees to pay more into their own heathcare plans and pension plans, a source of huge cost to many states which are running deficits.
In 2011, when Walker was battling against unions and Democrats to pass his budget repair bill, Wisconsin's state budget was facing a $3 billion budget deficit. In January 2013, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, estimated the state was now looking at a $484 million surplus.
A drop in union membership is not just being seen in Wisconsin. USA Today reported in January that union membership has dropped to levels not believed to be seen since the 1930s. Right-to-work laws and layoffs are cited as the reason.
H/T Power Line