Facts About Union Membership and Pay
Facts about Union Membership and Pay
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, about 11.1% of all U.S. workers belong to unions. Following are some of the facts provided by the bureau for 2014:
- 12.0% of U.S. male workers belong to unions; 10.5% of female workers do
- 11.1% of white workers, 13.4 % of black workers, and 9.8 % of Hispanic workers belong to unions
- 12.5% of full-time workers and 6.0% of part-time workers are union members
- 4.2% of workers ages 16–24 belong to unions, as do 14% of workers ages 45-54
- Occupations in which relatively high percentages of workers belong to unions are the federal government (26.9% belong to a union), state government (31.3%), local government (41.7%); transportation and utilities (20.6%); natural resources, construction, and maintenance (16.3%); and production, transportation, and material moving (14.7%)
- Occupations that have relatively low percentages of unionized workers are agricultural workers (1.4%), financial services (1.1%), professional and business services (2.4%), leisure and hospitality (2.7%), and wholesale and retail trade (4.7%)
In summary, the percentage of workers belonging to a union is higher for men than women; higher for blacks than for whites or Hispanics; higher for the 45–64 age range; and higher among workers in government and manufacturing than workers in agriculture or service-oriented jobs. This table lists the largest U.S. labor unions and their membership.
The Largest American Unions in 2013 (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
| Union | Membership |
|---|---|
| National Education Association (NEA) | 3.2 million |
| Service Employees International Union (SEIU) | 2.1 million |
| American Federation of Teachers (AFT) | 1.5 million |
| International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) | 1.4 million |
| The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) | 1.3 million |
| United Food and Commercial Workers International Union | 1.3 million |
| United Steelworkers | 1.2 million |
| International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) | 990,000 |
| International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers | 720,000 |
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) | 675,000 |
In terms of pay, benefits, and hiring, U.S. unions offer a good news/bad news story. The good news for unions and their members is that their members earn about 20% more than nonunion workers, even after adjusting for factors such as years of work experience and education level. The bad news for unions is that the share of U.S. workers who belong to a labor union has been steadily declining for 50 years, as shown in This figure. About one-quarter of all U.S. workers belonged to a union in the mid-1950s, but only 11.1% of U.S. workers are union members today. If you leave out workers employed by the government (which includes teachers in public schools), only 6.6% of the workers employed by private firms now work for a union.
Percentage of Wage and Salary Workers Who Are Union Members
The share of wage and salary workers who belong to unions rose sharply in the 1930s and 1940s, but has tailed off since then to 11.1% of all workers in 2014.
The following section analyzes the higher pay union workers receive compared the pay rates for nonunion workers. The following section analyzes declining union membership levels. An overview of these two issues will allow us to discuss many aspects of how unions work.
This lesson is part of:
Issues in Labour Markets