Autoworkers are the latest to spotlight the power of US labor. What is the state of unions today?

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — From auto production lines to Hollywood, the power of labor unions is back in the national spotlight. But despite historic strikes and record contract negotiations seen this year, there’s still a lot stacked against organizing today. Rates of union membership have been falling for decades. More than 35% of private-sector workers were unionized 1953. Today, it’s about 6%. Labor experts point to changes in the U.S. economy, ample employer opposition and growing political partisanship in recent decades. And, under current federal and state labor laws, desires to organize can only go so far without policy change.