US Union Membership Rose 1 Percent in 2014

Union membership in the U.S. rose by less than 1 percent in 2014 to 14.6 million, according to figures released Friday by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a percentage of the workforce, union representation of workers fell to 11.1 percent last year from 11.3 percent in 2013. More than 20 percent of workers belonged to a union in 1983.

Union membership among public-sector workers last year stood at 35.7 percent, more than five times the 6.6 percent rate of private-sector workers.

Unions are turning to partnerships with labor groups and worker centers, and are funding new efforts to attract members in industries traditionally ignored by unions.

One of the most visible campaigns is the Service Employees International Union-backed Fight for $15, which is pushing to raise wages of service workers, including fast food and retail, to $15 per hour.

At the same time, anti-union groups are lobbying for right-to-work laws that allow each worker – including those in businesses where a majority of members voted for a union, and are therefore represented by a union – to choose whether or not to pay union dues.

The number of workers who are not union members but are represented by unions rose slightly to 1.6 million from 1.5 million last year.

This article appeared in print in the January 26th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.