Will Millennials Look for Union Label?

A new study entitled “Union Perseverance: Taking the Pulse of America’s Union Workers”, shows a disconnect between what many Millennials want as opposed to their elder colleagues, Generation X’ers and Baby Boomers.  Although the age spans were not defined in the study, millennials are generally defined as a person reaching adulthood in the 21st century, generally as those currently between the ages of 34 and 54, and Baby Boomers as those between 53 and 71 years old.  Here is a link to the survey itself, and below, some highlights.

Are teacher union officials ready and able to organize a generation with significantly different needs than those of the previous two generations?

The survey sample includes members of the millennial cohort, Generation X and baby boomer generations. About 58% of respondents are male; nearly half have completed or are in the process of securing a four-year college degree or higher qualification; and nearly 90% work full-time. Slightly more than half live in suburban areas, and nearly two-thirds have been union members for ten years or longer.

The survey finds that millennials are not as personally invested in their jobs as their older counterparts: they report less job satisfaction than baby boomers and take less pride in their work. This stems in part from the comparatively junior posts that younger people tend to occupy, as well as the higher turnover among millennial workers.1