Membership increased by 311,000 in 2007 on a monthly average, the BLS said, virtually erasing the loss from the year before. The agency said unions averaged 15.67 million members last year.
The number of union men increased by just over 110,000, to 8.767 million, but the number of union women rose by 200,000 to 6.903 million.
The numerical gain pushed overall union membership to 12.1% of the U.S. workforce, but it comes with some caveats, BLS warned.
The numbers are based on a sample of 60,000 households, and only of those people who were employed. Still, BLS is confident that if the Census Bureau--which actually visits or calls the households--surveyed everyone in the country, there is a 90% chance that its data from the 60,000 households would duplicate the national results.
But that 10% possibility of not duplicating the nationwide results led BLS to say this year’s 12.1% union percentage was essentially unchanged from last year’s 12%. Still, the 311,000-person increase is statistically significant, BLS said.
BLS said 7.5% of private-sector workers were union members last year, compared to 35.9% of public-sector workers. The private-sector percentage was up 0.1%. The most-unionized occupations were in education, training and libraries (37.2%) and protective services--Fire Fighters, police and their colleagues--at 35.2%.
The percentage stayed the same, compared to 2006, among the education-training-library workers, but their union numbers rose by 145,000, to 3.087 million. Both the percentage (+0.5%) and numbers (up 54,000, to 1.066 million) rose among the Fire Fighters and their colleagues.
Among other professions that showed increases in union numbers were: Health care (+1%, to 13.5% and up 83,000 people, to 883,000), lower-level managers (+0.3%, to 4.5% and +52,000, to 530,000).
But the continued migration of high-paying U.S. factory jobs overseas and the buyouts in the auto industry also appeared in the BLS numbers. The number of unionized factory workers declined from 1.827 million (11.7% of all factory workers to 1.734 million (11.3%). Again, using monthly averages--which takes into account such things as the auto layoffs that occurred through the year--the number of factory workers overall fell by 302,000 from 2006 to 2007, to 15.34 million.
About 1.6 million workers were represented by a union in 2007, while not being union members themselves, BLS added. Slightly more than half of these workers were employed in government. For example, federal worker unions had 26.8% of all federal workers, or 916,000, but represented another 163,000, pushing their representation figure to 31.5%.
The union worker’s median weekly wage last year hit a significant milestone: Exactly $200 per week ahead of the non-union worker’s median wage: $863-$663. The gap was $165 in the private sector ($816-$651), $252 in the public sector ($901-$749) and a chasm in construction ($1,000-$624). The smallest gap and lowest median weekly wages were both in bars and restaurants ($476-$398).
The most-unionized state, again, was New York, where the percentage (+0.8% to 25.2%) and numbers (+74,000, to 2.055 million) both rose. But Alaska nudged Hawaii out of second place in percentage terms: 23.% to 23.4%. The number of Hawaii unionists dropped by 16,000, or more than 1%. But BLS said the biggest percentage drop was in Illinois, down by 1.9% to 14.5%, and down by 89,000 to 842,000.
California, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona led the nation in adding unionists. California had 201,000 more unionists in its 2007 monthly average of 2.474 million than it had the year before--and a 1% increase. Arizona, reflecting unionization drives by the Communications Workers and others, logged a 1.2% hike, to 8.8%, and a 33,000-unionist increase, to 230,000. Pennsylvania’s union numbers rose by 85,000, to 830,000 and its union density was up 1.5%, to 15.1%, moving it ahead of Michigan.
Other states with rises in union numbers--sometimes with percentage hikes and sometimes without them--included Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon, up 16,000 to 211,000 and up 0.5% to 14.3%. That made Oregon more unionized than Ohio (14.1%).
Minnesota registered another increase in union membership (+5,000 to 400,000) and density (+0.3% to 16.3%). Missouri registered slight declines in both, down 9,000 in numbers, to 275,000 and down 0.2%, to 10.7%.
The monthly average and the fact the Census Bureau talks to the households eight times a year--and that half the householders it talks to this year are the ones it talked to last year, or that 75% of those it talks to in any particular month this year are also those it talked to in the same month in 2006, help increase the accuracy of the data’s comparisons, BLS told Press Associates.
Bureau of Labor Statistics website
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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Membership increased by 311,000 in 2007 on a monthly average, the BLS said, virtually erasing the loss from the year before. The agency said unions averaged 15.67 million members last year.
The number of union men increased by just over 110,000, to 8.767 million, but the number of union women rose by 200,000 to 6.903 million.
The numerical gain pushed overall union membership to 12.1% of the U.S. workforce, but it comes with some caveats, BLS warned.
The numbers are based on a sample of 60,000 households, and only of those people who were employed. Still, BLS is confident that if the Census Bureau–which actually visits or calls the households–surveyed everyone in the country, there is a 90% chance that its data from the 60,000 households would duplicate the national results.
But that 10% possibility of not duplicating the nationwide results led BLS to say this year’s 12.1% union percentage was essentially unchanged from last year’s 12%. Still, the 311,000-person increase is statistically significant, BLS said.
BLS said 7.5% of private-sector workers were union members last year, compared to 35.9% of public-sector workers. The private-sector percentage was up 0.1%. The most-unionized occupations were in education, training and libraries (37.2%) and protective services–Fire Fighters, police and their colleagues–at 35.2%.
The percentage stayed the same, compared to 2006, among the education-training-library workers, but their union numbers rose by 145,000, to 3.087 million. Both the percentage (+0.5%) and numbers (up 54,000, to 1.066 million) rose among the Fire Fighters and their colleagues.
Among other professions that showed increases in union numbers were: Health care (+1%, to 13.5% and up 83,000 people, to 883,000), lower-level managers (+0.3%, to 4.5% and +52,000, to 530,000).
But the continued migration of high-paying U.S. factory jobs overseas and the buyouts in the auto industry also appeared in the BLS numbers. The number of unionized factory workers declined from 1.827 million (11.7% of all factory workers to 1.734 million (11.3%). Again, using monthly averages–which takes into account such things as the auto layoffs that occurred through the year–the number of factory workers overall fell by 302,000 from 2006 to 2007, to 15.34 million.
About 1.6 million workers were represented by a union in 2007, while not being union members themselves, BLS added. Slightly more than half of these workers were employed in government. For example, federal worker unions had 26.8% of all federal workers, or 916,000, but represented another 163,000, pushing their representation figure to 31.5%.
The union worker’s median weekly wage last year hit a significant milestone: Exactly $200 per week ahead of the non-union worker’s median wage: $863-$663. The gap was $165 in the private sector ($816-$651), $252 in the public sector ($901-$749) and a chasm in construction ($1,000-$624). The smallest gap and lowest median weekly wages were both in bars and restaurants ($476-$398).
The most-unionized state, again, was New York, where the percentage (+0.8% to 25.2%) and numbers (+74,000, to 2.055 million) both rose. But Alaska nudged Hawaii out of second place in percentage terms: 23.% to 23.4%. The number of Hawaii unionists dropped by 16,000, or more than 1%. But BLS said the biggest percentage drop was in Illinois, down by 1.9% to 14.5%, and down by 89,000 to 842,000.
California, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona led the nation in adding unionists. California had 201,000 more unionists in its 2007 monthly average of 2.474 million than it had the year before–and a 1% increase. Arizona, reflecting unionization drives by the Communications Workers and others, logged a 1.2% hike, to 8.8%, and a 33,000-unionist increase, to 230,000. Pennsylvania’s union numbers rose by 85,000, to 830,000 and its union density was up 1.5%, to 15.1%, moving it ahead of Michigan.
Other states with rises in union numbers–sometimes with percentage hikes and sometimes without them–included Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon, up 16,000 to 211,000 and up 0.5% to 14.3%. That made Oregon more unionized than Ohio (14.1%).
Minnesota registered another increase in union membership (+5,000 to 400,000) and density (+0.3% to 16.3%). Missouri registered slight declines in both, down 9,000 in numbers, to 275,000 and down 0.2%, to 10.7%.
The monthly average and the fact the Census Bureau talks to the households eight times a year–and that half the householders it talks to this year are the ones it talked to last year, or that 75% of those it talks to in any particular month this year are also those it talked to in the same month in 2006, help increase the accuracy of the data’s comparisons, BLS told Press Associates.
Bureau of Labor Statistics website
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.