union density falls hard in 2006
[The yearly decline in union density is the sharpest in 20 years. The
private sector rate is right on the trendline I computed last March,
which goes to 0% in late 2031/early 2032 - a fact which contributed
to Nathan Newman’s signing off this list. The original BLS report is
at ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/news.release/union2.txt.]
CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND POLICY RESEARCH Union Membership Byte January 25, 2007
Union Rates Fall in 2006, Severe Drop in Manufacturing
By John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer
For the first time in U.S. history, union membership rates were lower
in manufacturing than in the rest of the economy.
Union membership declined sharply in 2006, from 12.5 percent of all
workers in both 2004 and 2005, to just 12.0 percent of all workers
last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual union
membership report released today. Overall, the number of U.S. workers
in a union fell last year by 326,000 workers, to 15.4 million workers
in 2006.
The largest decrease in union membership rates occurred in
manufacturing, where union membership dropped 1.3 percentage points
to just 11.7 percent of manufacturing workers. For the first time
since the BLS began tracking these trends, and likely for the first
time in U.S. history, union membership rates were lower in
manufacturing (11.7 percent) than in the rest of the economy (12.0
percent).
In addition to losses in manufacturing, very few segments of the
private sector reported gains in unionization. Union membership in
the private sector slid in 2006 to only 7.4 percent. Among public-
sector workers, membership also fell (down 0.3 percentage points),
but, at 36.2 percent, remained at levels consistent with those over
the last two decades. Public-sector union jobs in 2006 accounted for
almost half of union members, even though public-sector employment
comprised less than one-fifth of the economy. (For a discussion of
trends in illegal firings in the private sector during union
organizing campaigns, see CEPR’s report, Dropping the Ax: Illegal
Firings During Union Election Campaigns.)
Workers of all races saw declines in union membership. At 14.5
percent, African-Americans remained more likely to be in a union than
white, Asian, or Hispanic workers, but union membership among blacks
in 2006 still fell by 0.6 percentage points. Since 1983, the earliest
year for which directly comparable data are available, union
membership has decreased by 12.6 percentage points among blacks (from
27.1 percent in 1983), but dropped only 7.5 percentage points among
whites (from 19.2 percent in 1983). (For longer-term trends in
African-American unionization, see CEPR’s report, The Decline in
African-American Representation in Unions and Auto Manufacturing,
1979-2004.)
Membership declines were roughly the same — down about 0.5
percentage points — for both men and women. In 2006, men (13.0
percent) were more often union members than women (10.9 percent), but
over time, the unionization rates have been converging. In 1983, the
earliest year for which directly comparable data are available, men
(24.7 percent) were much more likely to be in a union than were women
(14.6 percent).
The decline of unions within manufacturing was severe and will likely
persist. In 2006, the number of unionized workers in manufacturing
was nine percent lower than in 2005, a loss of 190,000 union members.
Buyouts and early retirements of unionized auto workers throughout
2007 will lead to additional losses in union members, as will
continued weakness in the manufacturing sector. Because of these
declines, it is no longer accurate to view manufacturing work as a
“union job.” Manufacturing workers are now less likely to be in a
union than is the average U.S. worker.
The latest numbers continue a long-run decline in union membership.
In 1983, about 1 in 5 workers in the United States was a member of a
union, including almost 1 in 3 black men. By 2006, only 1 in 8
workers was a union member, and only about 1 in 6 black men.
In 1983, about 1 in 6 private-sector workers was in a union. Twenty- three years later, the share has fallen to about 1 in 14.
John Schmitt is a senior economist and Ben Zipperer is a research
assistant at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in
Washington, D.C.
CEPR’s Union Membership Byte is published annually upon release of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics Union Membership report. Data for
years before 2005 are from the authors’ analysis of Current
Population Survey data. For more information or to subscribe by fax
or e-mail contact CEPR at 202-293-5380 ext. 103 or ray at cepr dot net.