U.S. Union Membership Declined in 2018 but Strike Activity Increased. What’s Going On?

2018 was an interesting year for the U.S. labor movement, with the continuing downward trend in membership but an increase in strike militancy that may lead to membership growth in the future.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual report of union membership and, as usual, the numbers don’t look so good, with a slight decline in the union membership rate.

The union membership rate — the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of…