The Death of Labor Unions in America

Taken from March 2013 Vol 46, Intelligent Investor (Part 4)

According to data collected from the Current Population Survey, and reported by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in 2012 the union membership rate in the U.S. was 11.3%, down from 11.8% in 2011.

The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.4 million, also declined 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.

Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (35.9%) more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.6%).

Workers in education, training, and library occupations and in protective service occupations had the highest unionization rates, at 35.4% and 34.8%, respectively.

Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers.