Unions Shrink Even in NY, Data Shows

While labor union rolls continue to shrink across the country, the latest federal statistics show that New York State’s union membership rate–at nearly a quarter of the total workforce–remains more than double the national average.

Nearly 2 million of New York’s 8.1 million employed residents were union members in 2006, according to data released yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This equated to a unionization rate of 24.4 percent, compared to 26.1 percent in 2005. Nationally, 12 percent of all workers were union members in 2006, down from 12.5 percent in 2005.

The nationwide data indicate that the union membership rate is declining in the manufacturing sector, while government employment accounts for the largest share of unionized workers.

Although the latest BLS release does not break down the data on a state-by-state basis, the Empire Center’s Labor Day 2006 Research Bulletin noted:

Between 1995 and 2005, union membership in New York’s manufacturing sector dropped by 55 percent (roughly twice the overall rate of decline in the stat’s manufacturing employment base), yet total private-sector union membership in New York increased roughly 4 percent during the same period. Union success in organizing workers in the state’s fast-growing growing health and human services sector no doubt has played a role in this trend.

As of 2005, according to previous data cited in our Research Bulletin, one out of every eight workers in the Empire State was a unionized government employee; in the rest of the country, the ratio was roughly one out of 19 workers.

New York actually bucked the national trend for the first half this decade, when the number of union members in the state increased slightly from 2000 to 2005. Over the longer term, unionization has declined much more slowly in New York than most in other states.

As shown in the table below, New York is now the second most heavily unionized state, and one of only four remaining states in which more than 20 percent of workers are union members. Only California has more total union members, but the overall unionization rate in the Golden state is only slightly above the national average.

2006 Employed and Union Members by State (highest to lowest membership)employment in thousands

	State	Total Employed	Total Union Members	Unionization Rate
1	Hawaii	562	139	24.7
2	New York	8,115	1,981	24.4
3	Alaska	280	62	22.2
4	New Jersey	3,827	770	20.1
5	Washington	2,772	549	19.8
6	Michigan	4,299	842	19.6
7	Illinois	5,684	931	16.4
8	Minnesota	2,479	395	16
9	California	14,501	2,273	15.7
10	Connecticut	1,591	247	15.6
11	Rhode Island	498	76	15.3
12	Wisconsin	2,587	386	14.9
13	Nevada	1,124	167	14.8
14	Massachusetts	2,859	414	14.5
15	Ohio	5,170	734	14.2
16	West Virginia	710	101	14.2
17	Oregon	1,527	211	13.8
18	Pennsylvania	5,457	745	13.6
19	Maryland	2,614	342	13.1
20	Montana	397	48	12.2
21	Indiana	2,787	334	12
22	Maine	584	69	11.9
23	Iowa	1,424	161	11.3
24	Vermont	305	34	11
25	Missouri	2,610	284	10.9
26	Delaware	396	43	10.8
27	New Hampshire	620	63	10.1
28	Kentucky	1,752	172	9.8
29	Alabama	1,930	170	8.8
30	Wyoming	235	19	8.3
31	Kansas	1,236	99	8
32	Nebraska	831	66	7.9
33	New Mexico	796	62	7.8
34	Colorado	2,154	165	7.7
35	Arizona	2,584	197	7.6
36	North Dakota	300	20	6.8
37	Louisiana	1,676	107	6.4
38	Oklahoma	1,453	93	6.4
39	Idaho	620	37	6
40	Tennessee	2,550	153	6
41	South Dakota	351	21	5.9
42	Mississippi	1,065	60	5.6
43	Utah	1,121	61	5.4
44	Florida	7,676	397	5.2
45	Arkansas	1,130	58	5.1
46	Texas	9,751	476	4.9
47	Georgia	3,974	176	4.4
48	Virginia	3,446	139	4
49	North Carolina	3,810	126	3.3
50	South Carolina	1,775	59	3.3

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics: 2006 Union Membership (Annual) Table 5. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state. Data from the BLS Current Population Survey, a sample of 60,000 households; data are collected by personal and telephone interviews. Basic labor force data are gathered monthly; data on special topics are gathered in periodic supplements. Beginning in January 2006, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated.