Rise and Fall of Organized Labor in Logistics

The plight of organized labor in logistics:  On one hand, it couldn’t be any worse.  The number of unionized truckers in the United States has been on a continuous decline for years.  Of the strong unionized LTL carriers, only Yellow Freight and Roadway are left.  The new super regional LTL carriers like Fed-Ex Freight are all non-union.  The once mighty Teamsters who at one time organized almost the entire trucking industry, are a shadow of their former selves.  

On the other hand, unions are doing quite well thank you - in the ports.  Those with Asian importing responsibility recall with horror the West Coast ports strikes.  In the ports, unions hold a very large stick over the head of the entire economy.  

Because of the prohibitive cost of organizing new workers, and the fast changing nature of today’s economy, it appears that labor’s fortunes are tied to massive stable infrastructure (ports) where longshoremen have a tight grip on the work, and non competitive parts of the economy (government employees) where they are also doing quite well.  The only threat that longshore employees at US ports face is the competition from ports in Canada and Mexico and due to the additional transportation costs involved, this is very limited.  

In spite of this limited success, globalization and competition is really killing organized labor in logistics related fields.  The breakup of the AFL-CIO won’t help.  Union leaders that plan on increasing membership might be better served solving the riddle of Jimmy Hoffa…..     (See also http://www.radbourneconsulting.com)