It’s been noted repeatedly during the EFCA debate that unions have been losing members for decades. A chart recently published in the Detroit News really drives that point home. According the chart and accompanying article, the United Auto Workers has lost over 1 million members since 1979. And, according to the article, entitled UAW ranks fall to post-WWII low, there is more bad news to come:

"The news is going to get worse before it gets better," said Gerald Meyers, former chairman of American Motors Corp. and a University of Michigan business professor. "The bleeding has not stopped and it's not going to stop anytime soon. The downsizing of GM, Ford and Chrysler. It's not over. Their shrinking is not done."

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Delphi wants to close 21 of its 29 U.S. plants. Ford and GM want to close a combined 26 plants by 2012. And DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group plans to close an SUV plant in Newark, Del., in 2009, and cut shifts at other factories in a restructuring that will slash 9,000 U.S. union jobs.

Although the UAW has had some recent success (albeit controversial, see HERE , HERE and HERE) organizing casino dealers in Atlantic City, its track record outside the auto industry wasn’t particularly impressive in 2006:

A UAW plant that made ladders in Kentucky closed as did a farm and construction equipment plant in Illinois and a Texas plant that made refrigerated cabinets.

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UAW Local 358 with 150 members in North Manchester, Ind., shut its doors in February after the "plant closed and the work moved to Mexico," its termination report said. Last year, Invensys Plc. closed its plant there that made motors for dishwashers and washing machines.

Here’s a quick round-up of other UAW news from the Detroit Press:

Daniel Howes: Gettelfinger can't tell it like it really is

Union politics being what they are, [UAW President Ron] Gettelfinger couldn't stand before his delegates at Cobo Center and tell them where things really stand. If he could, it might go something like this:

"Brothers and sisters, this international union -- you, me, our predecessors who delivered the gains we enjoy today -- faces a fundamental test forged from the choices of those before us and the expectations of those who would follow us.

"We can either take this opportunity to be bold, to ensure that our pay, benefits and work rules make our employers as competitive as they can be. Or we can cling to the creeping incrementalism and denial that brought us to this point, that hastened bankruptcies, plant closings and record buyouts.

"This is our time to help save a Detroit industry that made us, our parents and grandparents the bedrock of the American middle class and, for a time, the envy of all industrial workers. When this time passes, as it will, we must be able to tell our children and ourselves that we did everything to save the companies that made us what we are.

"That's real solidarity."

UAW warns: We'll shut down Delphi

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Tuesday he sees no point in negotiating a wage-cutting agreement with Delphi Corp. and vowed to strike the bankrupt auto supplier if it convinces

UAW members battle low morale

Delphi Corp. retiree Michael Balls said the UAW should have fought harder to protect jobs after the supplier filed for bankruptcy in October 2005. The union subsequently agreed to a deal to offer Delphi workers cash buyouts or early retirement to help trim thousands of jobs. Balls, a skilled trades worker, retired earlier than would have been ideal because he felt his job wasn't secure. "They should have stuck it out and fought harder," he said.

UAW workers feel givebacks unavoidable

The day he got home from the Army 37 years ago was the day Angelo Bruno got a job as a painter at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant. He's been proud of his career -- until now. The automaker's woes have forced changes at the plant that have left him as angry with his union as he is at Ford.

Bruno is not alone. More than two dozen United Auto Workers members told The Detroit News they fault union leaders for being too willing to agree to concessions Detroit automakers say they need to help restore profits.

Yet with critical contract talks coming this summer, Bruno and others say they will try to swallow their ire and accept a deal that likely will bring more cuts.

"It was a great ride," Bruno said. "But now globalization is killing us. We've got no choice."

New UAW pattern: givebacks

The upcoming contract talks between the United Auto Workers and Detroit's automakers could force the union to accept more job cuts, lower wages for new workers and more responsibility for retiree costs, a top auto industry economist said Tuesday.

It's even possible that Ford Motor Co., in the midst of financial "meltdown," could push the union for across-the-board pay cuts of as much as 20 percent, said Sean McAlinden, vice president of research of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor and a longtime supporter of organized labor.

UAW, Big 3 talks will be 'pattern-breaking,' analyst says

"The pillars of the UAW are under heavy attack by globalization," McAlinden said. "The value of the product they build is lower. That means the value of their labor is lower."