70,000
Number of Wisconsin union members and supporters who gathered at the state capitol on Saturday, Feb. 26 to protest the governor’s proposal to end collective bargaining rights (Source: Wisconsin State Journal)
2500
Number of Washington union members and supporters who gathered in Olympia on the same day in support of Wisconsin workers (Source: The Stranger)
$57,113
Median salary of Wisconsin public sector employees with a bachelor’s degree
$51,921
Median salary of Wisconsin private sector employees with a bachelor’s degree (Source: New York Times)
20.1%
Percentage of workers in the United States who were union members in 1983
11.9%
Percentage who were union members in 2010
36.2%
Percentage of U.S. public sector employees who were union members in 2010
6.9%
Percentage of U.S. private sector employees who were union members in 2010 (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Wisconsin • Mar 7, 2011 at 1:40 pm
This article gives no sense of the gravity of the situation. The Wisconsin protestors have been in the 15-30 degree weather at the capitol building for over THREE WEEKS now.
Please view http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/whats-happening-wisconsin-explained
for a brief summary.
For more Numbers in the News, view the infographics at
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph