Unions suffer steep decline in membership

  • By Sam Hananel Associated Press
  • Wednesday, January 23, 2013 8:36pm
  • Business

WASHINGTON — Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had difficulty organizing new members in the private sector despite signs of an improving economy.

Government figures released Wednesday showed union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce, another blow to a labor movement already stretched thin by battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and other states to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.

Overall membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half the loss, about 234,000, came from government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.

But unions also saw losses in the private sector even as the economy created 1.8 million new jobs in 2012. That membership rate fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent, a troubling sign for the future of organized labor, as job growth generally has taken place at nonunion companies.

“To employers, it’s going to look like the labor movement is ready for a knockout punch,” said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. “You can’t be a movement and get smaller.”

Union membership was 13.2 percent in 1935 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. Labor’s ranks peaked in the 1950s, when about 1 of every 3 workers was in a union. By 1983, roughly 20 percent of U.S. workers were union members.

Losses in the public sector are hitting unions particularly hard because that has been one of the few areas where membership had grown over the past two decades. About 51 percent of union members work in government, where the rate of union membership is 37 percent, more than five times higher than in the private sector.

Until recently, there had been little resistance to unions organizing government workers. But that began to change when Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin signed a law in 2011 eliminating most union rights for government workers. The state lost about 46,000 union members last year, the vast majority in the public sector.

The recession that began in 2008 also led to much deeper cuts in state and local government than any previous recession, according to a report this month from the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York at Albany. Since August 2008, state government employment has declined by 135,000, while local government employment fell by 546,000.

Teachers unions were among the hardest hit, with the ranks of unionized public school teachers and educators falling by 123,000 last year. Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, accused politicians who cut public education funding of “inflicting tremendous harm to our nation’s 50 million students and risking our children’s future.”

Despite the steady membership decline, unions remain a potent political force because of the money they spend helping union-friendly candidates seeking public office. Unions spent more than $400 million during the 2012 election cycle to support President Barack Obama’s re-election, keep a Democratic majority in the Senate and aid other state and local candidates.

But as more governors and state lawmakers target unions, labor leaders have been forced to spend more money fighting political skirmishes and less on organizing new members.

“Organizing is very expensive, and it gets fought now in the public sector as well as in the private sector,” said Barry Hirsch, a labor economist at Georgia State University.

Dwindling membership means unions carry far less influence than they used to in setting a benchmark for wages and benefits that might be followed at nonunion companies. Unions are already gearing up to defeat Republican governors in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where they fear more anti-union measures could crop up soon.

Union officials blame membership losses on the lingering effects of the recession, as well as GOP governors and state lawmakers who have sought to weaken union rights.

“Our still-struggling economy, weak laws and political as well as ideological assaults have taken a toll on union membership and in the process have also imperiled economic security and good, middle-class jobs,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

In Indiana, where a new right-to-work law took effect last March, the state lost about 56,000 union members. The law prohibits unions from requiring workers to pay union fees, even if they benefit from a collective bargaining agreement. Michigan lawmakers approved a similar measure in December.

Another problem for unions is an aging membership that is not being replaced by younger members. By age, the union membership rate was highest among workers age 55 to 64 (14.9 percent) and lowest among those 16 to 24 (4.2 percent).

In New York, the state with the highest union density, nearly one-quarter of the workforce belonged to a union. North Carolina had the lowest at 2.9 percent.

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

———

Online:

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov

———

Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Lily Lamoureux stacks Weebly Funko toys in preparation for Funko Friday at Funko Field in Everett on July 12, 2019.  Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Everett-based Funko ousts its CEO after 14 months

The company, known for its toy figures based on pop culture, named Michael Lunsford as its interim CEO.

The livery on a Boeing plane. (Christopher Pike / Bloomberg)
Former Lockheed Martin CFO joins Boeing as top financial officer

Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer is being replaced by a former CFO at… Continue reading

Izaac Escalante-Alvarez unpacks a new milling machine at the new Boeing machinists union’s apprentice training center on Friday, June 6, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Boeing Machinists union training center opens in Everett

The new center aims to give workers an inside track at Boeing jobs.

Some SnoCo stores see shortages after cyberattack on grocery supplier

Some stores, such as Whole Foods and US Foods CHEF’STORE, informed customers that some items may be temporarily unavailable.

People take photos and videos as the first Frontier Arlines flight arrives at Paine Field Airport under a water cannon salute on Monday, June 2, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Water cannons salute Frontier on its first day at Paine Field

Frontier Airlines joins Alaska Airlines in offering service Snohomish County passengers.

Amit B. Singh, president of Edmonds Community College. 201008
Edmonds College and schools continue diversity programs

Educational diversity programs are alive and well in Snohomish County.

A standard jet fuel, left, burns with extensive smoke output while a 50 percent SAF drop-in jet fuel, right, puts off less smoke during a demonstration of the difference in fuel emissions on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sustainable aviation fuel center gets funding boost

A planned research and development center focused on sustainable aviation… Continue reading

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Pharmacist John Sontra and other employees work on calling customers to get their prescriptions transferred to other stores from the Bartell Drugs Pharmacy on Hoyt Avenue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bartell Drugs location shutters doors in Everett

John Sontra, a pharmacist at the Hoyt Avenue address for 46 years, said Monday’s closure was emotional.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.