AS REPORTED IN THE LONGVIEW NEWS-JOURNAL:

by Mike Elswick melswick@news-journal.com | 0 comments

Longview and East Texas have never been a huge sanctuary of organized labor activity.

Susan Mazarakes Gill said the most recent information on labor union activity in Longview showed that fewer than 2 percent of local workers are members of labor unions. That amounts to about 800 union members among jobs in Longview.

"Longview's civilian labor force is 42,590, so that puts us at 1.9 percent union," said Gill, executive director of Longview Economic Development Corp. "There just has not been a lot of history here. Most of our employers treat their workers well, and there has not been a need."

Compared with the Northeast and Midwest where steel mills, automotive plants and other manufacturing concerns have long been highly unionized, manufacturing jobs in East Texas are a relatively new phenomena.
 

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