Professionals Make Up Largest Group of Union Members
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Laurie Kennington is one of the emerging faces of unions in the 21st century. A Yale graduate (Class of 2001), she is the new president of UNITEHERE! Local 34, the largest union on the Yale campus.
Kennington, who joined the union right after college, and Local 34, both symbolize the rapid growth of professionals and women among union members. In fact, white-collar workers accounted for 53.9 percent of all union members in 2009. Local 34, which began as a clerical union, has grown to represent 3,400 employees, many of them in Yale’s rapidly growing medical research areas. Before becoming president of the local, Kennington was a lead organizer for the Yale medical research facilities.
The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) reports there are more union members among professional and technical workers than any other occupational group. Last year, more than 5.2 million professional and related workers were union members and more than 5.8 million were represented by unions.
Trumka Named to Obama Economic Advisory Panel
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AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka has been named to the new economic advisory panel that will serve as President Obama’s team of experts.
In announcing creation of the panel last year, Obama said the group will prevent policy from being made in an echo chamber in Washington.
Trumka will join a who’s who list of top economists, corporate executives and academics. The White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which is modeled after the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board used by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, will be chaired by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker.
