In 2007, 19.5 percent of wage and salary workers in Michigan were union members compared with 19.6 percent in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that the State’s 2007 union membership rate was the lowest recorded in the 19 years of the data series. At its peak in 1989, 26.0 percent of all workers in Michigan belonged to a union. (See table A.)

Nationally, union members accounted for 12.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2007, essentially unchanged from 12.0 percent in 2006. The union membership rate for the U.S. has declined from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable national union data were available. Michigan was 1 of 20 states that had union membership rates above the U.S. average in 2007.

In Michigan, 819,000 wage and salary workers were union members in 2007. An additional 46,000 workers were represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee association or contract while not being union members themselves. Nationwide, nearly 15.7 million wage and salary workers were union members in 2007, while another 1.6 million were represented by a union on their main job but not union members themselves.

In 2007, 30 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 12.1 percent, while 20 states had higher rates. (See table 1.) Relative to 2006, 27 states registered lower union membership rates, 20 states recorded higher membership rates, and 3 states and the District of Columbia had no changes in their rates.

Within the East North Central division (which includes Michigan), four of the five states had union membership rates above the national average in 2007. Joining Michigan with a higher rate were Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Indiana had a union membership rate slightly less than the U.S. average. In two other divisions, the Middle Atlantic and the Pacific, all of the states reported union membership rates above that for the United States. In contrast, the states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions all had union membership rates that were below the national average. 

Five states reported union membership rates below 5.0 percent in 2007. North Carolina posted the lowest rate (3.0 percent), followed by Virginia (3.7 percent), South Carolina (4.1 percent), Georgia (4.4 percent), and Texas (4.7 percent). Four states had union membership rates over 20.0 percent in 2007—New York (25.2 percent), Alaska (23.8 percent), Hawaii (23.4 percent), and Washington (20.2 percent).

Nearly half (7.8 million) of the 15.7 million union members in the United States lived in six states (California, 2.5 million; New York, 2.1 million; Illinois, 0.8 million; Michigan, 0.8 million; Pennsylvania, 0.8 million; and New Jersey, 0.7 million), though these six accounted for only about one-third of wage and salary employment nationwide.

Statewide union membership levels depend on both the union membership rates and the employment levels. Michigan had over 75 percent more union members than Texas, despite having 5.7 million fewer wage and salary workers. Similarly, Tennessee and Hawaii had comparable numbers of union members even though Tennessee’s wage and salary employment level was more than four and one-half times that of Hawaii.