Tracking inversely with income inequality over the past 20 years has been the rate of union membership among American workers. From a peak of 20.1% in 1983, the unionization rate has fallen to 12.5% in 2005 (the latest year for which the latest data are available). In addition to this correlation are empirical data which show that declining union membership explains 15-20% of the increase in income inequality for males. Increasing rates of unionization would slow the trend in income inequality, and removing obstacles to forming unions is one of the ways to boost union membership. The New York Times reports today that Speaker of the House-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is proposing to do just that by moving the Employee Free Choice Act, aka "Card Check", to a vote next year. New York Times: Even before the Democrats won control of Congress, the bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, had 216 co-sponsors in the House, including 14 Republicans, just 2 short of a majority. With the Democrats capturing both houses, labor and its allies voice confidence that the bill will pass in the House, but they fear a formidable battle in the Senate, where some foresee a Republican filibuster. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the incoming speaker, said yesterday that the bill would probably go to the House floor in the early spring. [...] "We certainly will be passing the card check, the Employee Free Choice Act," Mrs. Pelosi, Democrat of California, told reporters.