Unions trying to find new ways to bolster ranks in SouthCoast By DAVID J. ORTIZ, New Bedford Standard, MA
Faced with an erosion of their traditional manufacturing base, many labor unions are venturing out of the blue-collar industries to recruit members in the white-collar service industries, several experts said.
In particular, unions that historically have represented steel workers and auto workers have been actively claiming new terrain. In local examples, the United Auto Workers union now represents secretaries in the Bristol County Treasurer's Office, and Teamsters Union Local 59 in New Bedford represents clerks in water and public works departments locally.
'The effort nationally is on organizing in new areas,' said Kim Wilson, labor extension coordinator at UMass Dartmouth's Arnold M. Dubin Labor Education Center. 'That's what we need to focus on, organizing primarily in the service sector and the health care industry in order to increase our base.'