For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 27, 2012                    USDL-12-0094

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                               UNION MEMBERS -- 2011


In 2011, the union membership rate--the percent of wage and salary workers who 
were members of a union--was 11.8 percent, essentially unchanged from 11.9 
percent in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number 
of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.8 million, also showed 
little movement over the year. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union 
data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent and there were
17.7 million union workers.

The data on union membership were collected as part of the Current Population 
Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that obtains 
information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian 
noninstitutional population age 16 and over. For more information, see the 
Technical Note.

Highlights from the 2011 data:

   --Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (37.0 percent) more 
     than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.9
     percent). (See table 3.)
                                                                         
   --Workers in education, training, and library occupations had the
     highest unionization rate, at 36.8 percent, while the lowest rate
     occurred in sales and related occupations (3.0 percent). (See 
     table 3.)

   --Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, 
     Asian, or Hispanic workers. (See table 1.)

   --Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership 
     rate (24.1 percent) and North Carolina again had the lowest rate 
     (2.9 percent). (See table 5.)

Industry and Occupation of Union Members

In 2011, 7.6 million employees in the public sector belonged to a
union, compared with 7.2 million union workers in the private sector.
The union membership rate for public-sector workers (37.0 percent) was
substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.9
percent). Within the public sector, local government workers had the
highest union membership rate, 43.2 percent. This group includes
workers in heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police
officers, and firefighters. Private-sector industries with high
unionization rates included transportation and utilities (21.1
percent) and construction (14.0 percent), while low unionization rates
occurred in agriculture and related industries (1.4 percent) and in
financial activities (1.6 percent). (See table 3.)

Among occupational groups, education, training, and library
occupations (36.8 percent) and protective service occupations (34.5
percent) had the highest unionization rates in 2011. Sales and related
occupations (3.0 percent) and farming, fishing, and forestry
occupations (3.4 percent) had the lowest unionization rates. (See
table 3.)

Selected Characteristics of Union Members

The union membership rate was higher for men (12.4 percent) than for
women (11.2 percent) in 2011. (See table 1.) The gap between their
rates has narrowed considerably since 1983, when the rate for men was
about 10 percentage points higher than the rate for women. Between
1983 and 2011, the union membership rate for men declined by almost
half (12.3 percentage points), while the rate for women declined by
3.4 percentage points.

In 2011, among major race and ethnicity groups, black workers were
more likely to be union members (13.5 percent) than workers who were
white (11.6 percent), Asian (10.1 percent), or Hispanic (9.7 percent).
Black men had the highest union membership rate (14.6 percent), while
Asian men had the lowest rate (9.1 percent).

By age, the union membership rate was highest among workers 55 to 64
years old (15.7 percent). The lowest union membership rate occurred
among those ages 16 to 24 (4.4 percent).

Full-time workers were about twice as likely as part-time workers to
be union members, 13.1 percent compared with 6.4 percent.

Union Representation

In 2011, 16.3 million wage and salary workers were represented by a
union. This group includes both union members (14.8 million) and
workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by
a union contract (1.5 million). (See table 1.) Government employees
comprised about half of the 1.5 million workers who were covered by a
union contract but were not members of a union. (See table 3.)

Earnings

In 2011, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had
median usual weekly earnings of $938, while those who were not union
members had median weekly earnings of $729. In addition to coverage by
a collective bargaining agreement, earnings differences reflect a
variety of influences, including variations in the distributions of
union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, firm
size, or geographic region. (See table 2.)

Union Membership by State

In 2011, 29 states and the District of Columbia had union membership
rates below that of the U.S. average, 11.8 percent, while 21 states
had higher rates. All states in the Middle Atlantic and Pacific
divisions reported union membership rates above the national average,
while all states in the East South Central and West South Central
divisions had rates below it. Union membership rates declined over the
year in 29 states and the District of Columbia, rose in 19 states, and
were unchanged in 2 states. (See table 5.)

Seven states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent in 2011,
with North Carolina having the lowest rate (2.9 percent). The next
lowest rates were recorded in South Carolina (3.4 percent), Georgia
(3.9 percent), Arkansas (4.2 percent), Louisiana (4.5 percent), and
Tennessee and Virginia (4.6 percent each). Three states had union
membership rates over 20.0 percent in 2011: New York (24.1 percent),
Alaska (22.1 percent), and Hawaii (21.5 percent).

State union membership levels depend on both the overall employment
levels and union membership rates. The largest numbers of union
members lived in California (2.4 million) and New York (1.9 million).
Over half of the 14.8 million union members in the U.S. lived in just
seven states (California, 2.4 million; New York, 1.9 million; Illinois, 
0.9 million; Pennsylvania, 0.8 million; Michigan 0.7 million; and New 
Jersey and Ohio, 0.6 million each), though these states accounted for 
only about one-third of wage and salary employment nationally.

Texas had about one-fourth as many union members as New York, despite
having 2.3 million more wage and salary employees. North Carolina and
Hawaii had comparable numbers of union members (105,000 and 113,000,
respectively), though North Carolina's wage and salary employment
level (3.6 million) was nearly seven times that of Hawaii (525,000).

Technical Note

  The estimates in this release are obtained from the Current Population Sur-
vey (CPS), which provides the basic information on the labor force, employment,
and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics by the U.S. Census Bureau from a scientifically selected national sam-
ple of about 60,000 eligible households. The union membership and earnings data 
are tabulated from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage
and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded.

  The Census Bureau introduces adjustments to the population controls for the
CPS as part of its annual update of population estimates. The effect of the
revised population controls on the union affiliation data is unknown. However,
the effect of the new controls on the monthly CPS estimates was to decrease the
December 2010 employment level by 347,000. The updated controls had little or
no effect on unemployment rates and other ratios. Estimated levels, such as
the number of union members for 2011, are not strictly comparable with estimated
levels for 2010. These adjustments to the levels, however, should have had only
negligible effects on union membership rates. Additional information is avail-
able on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

  Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired in-
dividuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service:
(800) 877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

  Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling er-
ror. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a
chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values
they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending upon
the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard
error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confi-
dence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard
errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses
are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The state section
of this release preserves the long-time practice of highlighting the direction of
the movements in state union membership rates and levels regardless of their sta-
tistical significance.

  The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can oc-
cur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population,
inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or un-
willingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the
collection or processing of the data.

  For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on
estimating standard errors, see the Household Data section of the "Explanatory Notes
and Estimates of Error" available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_methods.pdf.

Definitions

  The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.

  Union members. Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee
association similar to a union.

  Represented by unions. Data refer to both union members and workers who report
no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee associa-
tion contract.

  Nonunion. Data refer to workers who are neither members of a union nor repre-
sented by a union on their job.

  Usual weekly earnings. Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions
and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received (at the main job
in the case of multiple jobholders). Prior to 1994, respondents were asked how much
they usually earned per week. Since January 1994, respondents have been asked to
identify the easiest way for them to report earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice
monthly, monthly, annually, other) and how much they usually earn in the reported time
period. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly are converted to a weekly equi-
valent. The term "usual" is as perceived by the respondent. If the respondent asks
for a definition of usual, interviewers are instructed to define the term as more than
half of the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months.

  Median earnings. The median is the amount which divides a given earnings distribu-
tion into two equal groups, one having earnings above the median and the other having
earnings below the median. The estimating procedure places each reported or calcu-
lated weekly earnings value into $50-wide intervals which are centered around multi-
ples of $50. The actual value is estimated through the linear interpolation of the
interval in which the median lies.

  Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips,
payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and
public sectors. Union membership and earnings data exclude all self-employed workers,
both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses.

  Full-time workers. Workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole
or principal job.

  Part-time workers. Workers who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week at their
sole or principal job.

  Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Refers to persons who identified themselves in the
enumeration process as being Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino. Persons whose ethnicity is
identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.