Web-Based Questions


1			UNION MEMBERSHIP—FALLING OR RISING? Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site, http://www.bls.gov, and select A-Z Index and then Workstoppages for historical data on strikes. What has been the trend concerning the number of strikes involving more than 1000 workers over the past 20 years? Use the A-Z Index to update the text's data on union membership. For the latest year, determine (a) the overall unionization rate for wage and salary workers, (b) the unionization rates for men and women wage and salary workers, and (c) the unionization rates for black, white, and Hispanic wage and salary workers. Have the unionization rates gone up, down, or stayed constant compared to the data reported in this chapter?




2			ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS—A NEW LAW? In the spring of 2006, the U.S. Congress was debating legislation pertaining to illegal immigration to the United States and the disposition of the some 12 million unauthorized immigrants already here. Use a standard Internet search engine such as Google, http://www.google.com, to determine the progress and outcome, if any, of that legislative debate. Did a new immigration law emerge? If so, what are its main features? If not, what is the current status of the legislative debate relating to unauthorized immigrants?