Unions have been front and center in local news recently with suburban teachers strikes and the state's public pension crisis.
But according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the union membership rate across the country has dropped to the lowest level since the 1930s. More than half of the members lost -- about 234,000 -- came from government workers, as reported Associated Press.
Are you or have you ever been a member of a labor union? What do you think of union influence in politics? Labor unions fought for many benefits we now take for granted, such as workplace safety and overtime laws, but are they still necessary?