Union Membership in the U.S. Takes Another Big Hit In 2012, At 76-Year Low

Industries And Occupations Of Labor Union Membership

In 2012, 7.3 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.0 million union workers in the private sector.

The union membership rate for public-sector workers, 35.9%, was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers at 6.6%. Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate at 41.7%.

This group includes workers in heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighter

Private-sector industries with high unionization rates included transportation and utilities, 20.6%, and construction at 13.2%.

The lowest unionization rates occurred in agriculture and related industries, 1.4%, and in financial activities, 1.9%.

Among occupational groups, education, training, and library occupations, 35.4%, and protective service occupations, 34.8%, had the highest unionization rates in 2012.

Sales and related occupations, 2.9%, and farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, 3.4%, had the lowest unionization rates.

Selected Characteristics of Union Members

The union membership rate was higher for men, 12.0%, than for women with 10.5% in 2012.

The gap between their rates has narrowed considerably since 1983, when the rate for men was 24.7%, and the rate for women was 14.6%.

In 2012, among major race and ethnicity groups, black workers had a higher union membership rate, 13.4%, than white workers, 11.1%, Asian, 9.6%, or Hispanic, 9.8%.

Black men had the highest union membership rate, 14.8%, while Asian men had the lowest rate with 8.9%.

By age, the union membership rate was highest among workers ages 55 to 64, 14.9%.

The lowest union membership rate occurred among those ages 16 to 24, 4.2%.

Full-time workers were about twice as likely as part-time workers to be union members,

12.5% compared with 6.0%.

Union Representation

In 2012, unions represented 15.9 million wage and salary workers.

This group includes both union members, 14.4 million, and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract, 1.6 million.

Private-sector employees comprised about half, 814,000, of the 1.6 million workers who were covered by a union contract, but were not members of a union.

Union Member Earnings

In 2012, between full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $943, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings of $742.

In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, this earnings difference reflects a variety of influences, including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, business size, or geographic region.

Labor Union Membership By State

In 2012, 31 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 11.3%, while 19 states had higher rates.

All states in the Middle Atlantic and Pacific divisions reported union membership rates above the national average, and all states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions had rates below it.

Labor union membership rates declined over the year in 34 states, rose in 14 states and the District of Columbia, and remained unchanged in two states.

Eight states had union membership rates below 5.0% in 2012. North Carolina had the lowest rate, 2.9%, followed by Arkansas, 3.2%, and South Carolina, 3.3%.

Three states had union membership rates of more than 20.0% in 2012: New York, 23.2%, Alaska, 22.4%, and Hawaii, 21.6%.

About half of the 14.4 million union members in the U.S. lived in just seven states:

• California, 2.5 million
• New York, 1.8 million
• Illinois, 0.8 million;
• Pennsylvania,0.7 million
• Michigan, 0.6 million
• New Jersey, 0.6 million
• Ohio, 0.6 million

These states accounted for only about one-third of union wage and salary employment nationally.

State union membership levels depend on both the state wage and salary employment level and the union membership rate.

Texas, with a labor union membership rate of 5.7%, had about one-third as many union members as New York, despite having 2.7 million more wage and salary employee

Conversely, North Carolina and Hawaii had comparable numbers of union members, 112,000 and 116,000, respectively. North Carolina’s wage and salary employment level, 3.8 million, was more than seven times that of Hawaii with 537,000.

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