By Jeffrey T. Johnson (retired)
The results are in. For 2013, the percentage of union members in the private sector ticked up slightly, to 6.7%. The percentage for 2012 was 6.6%. The total number of union members working in the private sector rose from 7.0 million in 2012 to 7.3 million in 2013.
Numbers for the public sector dipped slightly from 2012, with 35.9 percent of public sector employees reported to be union members in 2012 and 35.3 percent in 2013. The total number of public sector union members remained relatively flat, with 7.2 million union members in 2013, down just over 100,000 members from 2012.
In analyzing the data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the trend in both percentage and total number of union members has been a steady downward one. For example, in 2005, 7.8% of private sector employees were union members. In 2005, 15.7 million workers (private and public) were union members; in 2013, only 14.5 million.
The BLS report breaks down the union membership data by many categories, including by state, gender, age, industry, and occupation. It also provides comparative earnings information. Here are some highlights:
- Men had a higher union membership rate (11.9%) than women (10.5%).
- The age category with the highest percentage of union members was age 55-64 (14.3%).
- The occupations with the highest percentage of private sector union members were protective service occupations (35.3%), utilities (25.6%), and transportation and warehousing (19.6%)
- New York continues to have the highest union membership rate (24.4%), while North Carolina had the lowest rate (3.0%).
Statistics for 2013 union membership in the primary states served by Holland & Hart’s offices were as follows:
- Nevada – 14.6% unionized, total of 169,000 members
- Montana – 13.0% unionized, total of 52,000 members
- Colorado – 7.6% unionized, total of 171,000 members
- New Mexico – 6.2% unionized, total of 751,000 members
- Wyoming – 5.7% unionized, total of 15,000 members
- Idaho – 4.7% unionized, total of 29,000 members
- Utah – 3.9% unionized, total of 49,000 members
Note: Above figures are private and public sectors combined