Yemane does not yet belong to a union, but he is trying to persuade his employer, Pacwest Security Services, to join an effort by the Service Employees International Union to secure contracts for 5,000 security guards throughout Los Angeles County.
Union organizers believe their campaign will improve wages, working conditions and safety. Their efforts could be particularly helpful to African American and Latino workers, who disproportionately fill the ranks of low-wage jobs, according to the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
Researchers have found that unionization is an important tool for driving up wages and securing benefits, both locally and nationally.
A study released Sunday by UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment found that unionized workers in Southern California earned $26.82 per hour on average during the first six months of 2007, compared with $21.58 an hour for nonunion workers.
Although organized labor's ranks have steadily thinned over the last decade, from 15% to 12% nationally, Southern California membership has held steady at 15%, according to the UCLA study.
The local rate reflects recent union successes in organizing janitors, security guards, hotel workers and other low-wage service employees, said Ruth Milkman, director of UCLA's labor institute.
But union officials know that trying to organize manufacturing workers, once stalwart union members who commanded solid salaries and enjoyed company-paid health benefits, can put a kiss of death on their jobs, prompting employers to move their operations overseas or across the border. "Nobody's trying to organize the garment industry in Los Angeles for that reason," she said.
Still, labor remains a formidable power throughout the region, one that has demonstrated an ability to organize workers, sway political races and influence virtually all levels of government.
Maria Elena Durazo, head of the 800,000-member Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, lists recent labor victories, including a contract reached this summer for 65,000 grocery workers and a decision by the Los Angeles Board of Education last week to award health benefits to part-time school cafeteria workers.
But Durazo also frets about the year ahead.
