"The U.S. is home to 17 million military veterans. About 1.3 million of them currently work in union jobs, with women and people of color making up the fastest-growing cohorts. Veterans are more likely to join a union than non-veterans, according to the AFL-CIO. In half a dozen states, 25 percent or more of all actively employed veterans belong to unions."
"In the heyday of industrial unionism in the decades following World War II, hundreds of thousands of former soldiers could be found on the front lines of labor struggles in auto, steel, meatpacking, electrical equipment manufacturing, mining, trucking, and the telephone industry. Many World War II vets became militant stewards, local union officers, and, in some cases, well-known union reformers in the United Mine Workers and Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers."
"The late labor organizer and author Jane McAlevey argued that the post-war union movement better understood the "strategic value" of veterans than organized labor does today. In her own advice to unions about contract campaign planning, she recommended enlisting former service members whose past "experience with discipline, military formation, and overcoming fear and adversity" could be employed on picket lines and strike committees."
The United States has 17 million veterans, about 1.3 million of whom work in union jobs. Women and people of color are the fastest-growing cohorts among veteran union members. Veterans are more likely than non-veterans to join unions, and in several states at least 25 percent of actively employed veterans belong to unions. Large numbers of veterans staffed industrial unions after World War II in industries such as auto, steel, meatpacking, electrical equipment manufacturing, mining, trucking, and telephone. Organizers recommend recruiting veterans for their discipline, military formation experience, and ability to overcome fear and adversity. Veterans' social standing in blue-collar communities can aid public support for bargaining and political campaigns.
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