UAW ranks at lowest number since 1942 | Detroit Free-Press [View All]

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UAW ranks at lowest number since 1942
Recent adds to union don't stop steady fall

April 15, 2004
BY JEFFREY MCCRACKEN
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

The United Auto Workers union continued its long, slow decline in membership in 2003, losing 14,000 more members and falling to its lowest level since 1942, according to UAW documents filed with the Department of Labor.

UAW membership fell to 624,585 in 2003, down from 638,722 at the end of 2002. The drop came despite UAW successes in organizing thousands of workers at billion-dollar parts suppliers like Toledo-based Dana Corp. and Johnson Controls Inc. in Plymouth, not to mention some success in organizing graduate assistants on college campuses.

Despite the drop in membership, the UAW increased the amount of union dues it collected in 2003 to $214.3 million, up from $209 million in 2002.

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