Benefits February 17, 2009

Union Membership on the Rise

February 17, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Union members accounted for 12.4% of employed wage and salary workers in 2008, up from 12.1% a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.
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A BLS news release said the number of union workers went up by 428,000 to 16.1 million. The union membership data was collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

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According to the BLS, other 2008 data highlights included that:

  • Government workers were nearly five times more likely to belong to a union than were private sector employees.
  • Workers in education, training, and library occupations had the highest unionization rate at 38.7%.
  • Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers.
  • Among states, New York had the highest union membership rate (24.9%) and North Carolina had the lowest rate (3.5%).

The government data showed that the union membership rate for public sector workers (36.8%) was substantially higher than the rate for private industry workers (7.6%). Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate, 42.2%, including workers in several heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

Private sector industries with high unionization rates include transportation and utilities (22.2%), telecommunications (19.3%), and construction (15.6%). In 2008, unionization rates were relatively low in financial activities (1.8%) and professional and business services (2.1%).

More information about the government union participation data is available here .

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