Worker Centers and the “ Social Cause Exception ”

In 1954, thirty-nine percent of private sector laborers were unionized; by 1999 that number dropped to ten percent.1 Labor unions provide vital services for workers and the decline of unions has also meant that workers go without those services. At one time, union representatives and organizers were hired by the labor unions to recruit workers to organize.2 In the postwar era the unions stopped reaching out and recruiting new members and focused instead on only protecting current workers.3 This is no help to those workers who wish to organize and do not understand the legal issues associated with doing so.