302 FAKI FUUK FULILICAL ORGANIZATION The AFL-CIO has about 15 million members.which represents a consider- able decline in recent years.At one time about a third of the U.S.work force was unionized,but only abeut one-sixth of all workers currently belong to unions. Skilled and unskilled laborers have been the core of organized labor,and their numbers are decreasing.Professionals,technicians,and service workers are increasing in number and,because of their educational backgrounds or employ- ment situations,are more difficult to organize into unions. However,unions have made important inroads in recent decades in their efforts to organize public employees.Teachers,postal workers,police,firefight- ers,and social workers are among the public-employee groups that have become increasingly unionized.The effectiveness of these unions is limited by federal and state laws forbidding public employees to strike.In 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization(PATCO)called a strike over pay and working conditions;President Reagan responded by firing 11,500 federally employed controllers. Agricultural Groups Farm organizations are another large economic lobby.The American Farm Bureau Federation is the largest of the farm groups,with more than 2.5 million members.The National Farmers Union,the National Grange,and the National Farmers Organization are smaller farm lobbies.Agricultural groups do not always agree on policy issues.For instance,the Farm Bureau has sided with agribusiness and owners of large farms,while the Farmers Union has promoted the interests of smaller,"family"farms. This 1873 lithograph illustrates the benefits of membership in the National Grange,an agricultural interest group. (Library of Congress)