Newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found an overall increase in union membership across the country in 2023 along with a very slight drop in member density.
Published on Jan. 23, the annual report also concluded that union members, on average, earn more money than workers who do not have union representation – upwards of $9,000 per year.
The report shows that overall union membership grew by 139,000 in 2023. Union membership in the private sector increased by 191,000 members, with a majority of new members under the age of 45.
According to the BLS, “The union membership rate – the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions – was 10.0 percent in 2023, little changed from the previous year.”
Responding to the report, the AFL-CIO (to which the SIU is affiliated) pointed out that although more than 70% of Americans polled in a recent survey approve of unions and 59% support unionization in their own workplaces, American workers face obstacles from several angles that prevent density numbers from increasing along with approval rates.
Union-busting is just one of many challenges workers face as they organize their workplaces, according to both the federation and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The latter organization noted, “At its core, the decline (in union density) reflects an intentional political effort to suppress workers’ wage growth and shift income to profits and executive salaries by stripping away the most important leverage that workers have – the right to bargain collectively.”
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su addressed the legislative challenges that must be dealt with in order to facilitate unionization for interested employees in both sectors. She stated, “We know there is a tremendous amount of work still to be done. Unions have been under attack for decades, with union-busting laws being passed in states across the country. But multiple states in recent years have rolled back some of these so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws, recognizing the damage they can do to worker organizing. We also know that current federal law allows union-busting to stifle workers exercising their rights, which is why the Biden-Harris administration continues to support passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “Although union density remained flat in 2023, that doesn’t reflect the surging momentum that working people have carried into this year. Waves of workers across industries and geography are joining unions despite vicious union-busting campaigns by large corporations. Polling data shows that 71% of Americans support unions, the highest level in nearly 60 years, with 88% of young people showing support for unions. And as the BLS numbers show, the union difference in wages remains strong, driving increased interest among workers to have a voice on the job.
“Every worker who wants to join a union should be able to without facing intimidation and harassment from their employer,” Shuler continued. “Corporations spend more than $400 million per year on union-busting consultants to stop worker organizing, and corporate leaders like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos – themselves hoarding billions of dollars – have made it their mission in life to stop their own employees from having a voice at the workplace.”
Shuler concluded, “The labor movement is more focused and committed than ever on ensuring that every worker who wants a union has a fair shot at joining one. Organizing is happening at a rate not seen in generations, and new federal investments by the Biden administration in emerging sectors of the economy creates more opportunity for workers to attain good union jobs.”
Among the data from the BLS report:
• The union membership rate of public-sector workers (32.5 percent) continued to be more than five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers (6.0 percent).
• The highest unionization rates were among workers in education, training, and library occupations (32.7 percent) and protective service occupations (31.9 percent).
• Men continued to have a higher union membership rate (10.5 percent) than women (9.5 percent).
• Black workers remained more likely to be union members than White, Asian, or Hispanic workers.
• Non-union workers had median weekly earnings that were 86 percent of earnings for workers who were union members ($1,090 versus $1,263).
• Among states, Hawaii and New York had the highest union membership rates (24.1 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively), while South Carolina and North Carolina had the lowest (2.3 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively).
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