For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Thursday, January 26, 2017                      USDL-17-0107

Technical information: (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                                   UNION MEMBERS -- 2016


The union membership rate--the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of
unions--was 10.7 percent in 2016, down 0.4 percentage point from 2015, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to
unions, at 14.6 million in 2016, declined by 240,000 from 2015. 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.

The data on union membership are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS),
a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 eligible households that obtains information on
employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population ages
16 and over. For more information, see the Technical Note in this news release.

Highlights from the 2016 data:

   --Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (34.4 percent) more than five
     times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.4 percent). (See table 3.)

   --Workers in education, training, and library occupations and in protective service
     occupations had the highest unionization rates (34.6 percent and 34.5 percent,
     respectively). (See table 3.)

   --Men continued to have a slightly higher union membership rate (11.2 percent) than
     women (10.2 percent). (See table 1.)

   --Black workers were more likely to be union members than were White, Asian, or
     Hispanic workers. (See table 1.)

   --Median weekly earnings of nonunion workers ($802) were 80 percent of earnings for
     workers who were union members ($1,004). (The comparisons of earnings in this
     release are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be
     important in explaining earnings differences.) (See table 2.)

   --Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate
    (23.6 percent), while South Carolina continued to have the lowest (1.6 percent).
    (See table 5.)

Industry and Occupation of Union Members

In 2016, 7.1 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with
7.4 million workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector
workers (34.4 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers
(6.4 percent). Within the public sector, the union membership rate was highest for local
government (40.3 percent), which includes employees in heavily unionized occupations,
such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters. In the private sector, industries
with high unionization rates included utilities (21.5 percent), transportation and
warehousing (18.4 percent), telecommunications (14.6 percent), construction (13.9
percent), and educational services (12.3 percent). Low unionization rates occurred in
finance (1.2 percent), agriculture and related industries (1.3 percent), food services
and drinking places (1.6 percent), and professional and technical services (1.6 percent).
(See table 3.)

Among occupational groups, the highest unionization rates in 2016 were in education,
training, and library occupations (34.6 percent) and in protective service occupations
(34.5 percent). The lowest unionization rates were in farming, fishing, and forestry
occupations (2.2 percent); sales and related occupations (3.1 percent); computer and
mathematical occupations (3.9 percent); and food preparation and serving related
occupations (3.9 percent).

Selected Characteristics of Union Members

In 2016, the union membership rate continued to be slightly higher for men (11.2 percent)
than for women (10.2 percent). (See table 1.) The gap between their rates has narrowed
considerably since 1983 (the earliest year for which comparable data are available), when
rates for men and women were 24.7 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.

Among major race and ethnicity groups, Black workers continued to have a higher union
membership rate in 2016 (13.0 percent) than workers who were White (10.5 percent), Asian
(9.0 percent), or Hispanic (8.8 percent).

By age, union membership rates continued to be highest among workers ages 45 to 64. In
2016, 13.3 percent of workers ages 45 to 54 and ages 55 to 64 were union members.

The union membership rate was 11.8 percent for full-time workers, more than twice the
rate for part-time workers at 5.7 percent.

Union Representation

In 2016, 16.3 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union. This group
includes both union members (14.6 million) and workers who report no union affiliation
but whose jobs are covered by a union contract (1.7 million). (See table 1.)

Earnings

Among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings
of $1,004 in 2016, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings
of $802. In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, this earnings
difference reflects a variety of influences, including variations in the distributions
of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, age, firm size, or
geographic region. (See tables 2 and 4.)

Union Membership by State

In 2016, 27 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of
the U.S. average, 10.7 percent, while 23 states had rates above it. All states in the
West South Central division had union membership rates below the national average, and
all states in both the Middle Atlantic and the Pacific divisions had rates above it.
Union membership rates decreased over the year in 31 states and the District of Columbia,
increased in 16 states, and were unchanged in 3 states. (See table 5.) 

Nine states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent in 2016, with South Carolina
having the lowest rate (1.6 percent). The next lowest rates were in North Carolina (3.0
percent), Arkansas (3.9 percent), and Georgia (3.9 percent). New York was the only state
with a union membership rate over 20.0 percent in 2016 at 23.6 percent.

State union membership levels depend on both the employment level and the union
membership rate. The largest numbers of union members lived in California (2.6 million)
and New York (1.9 million). Over half of the 14.6 million union members in the U.S.
lived in just 7 states (California, 2.6 million; New York, 1.9 million; Illinois,
0.8 million; Pennsylvania, 0.7 million; and Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, 0.6 million
each), though these states accounted for only about one-third of wage and salary
employment nationally.

Technical Note

   The estimates in this release are obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS),
which provides basic information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment.
The survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census
Bureau from a scientifically selected national sample of about 60,000 eligible households.
The union membership and earnings data are tabulated from one-quarter of the CPS monthly
sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded.

   Beginning in January of each year, data reflect revised population controls used in the
CPS. Additional information about population controls is available on the BLS website at
https://www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon
request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a
sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample
estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The exact difference,
or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability
is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or
level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 
standard errors from the true population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are
generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The state section of this release
preserves the long-time practice of highlighting the direction of the movements in state
union membership rates and levels regardless of their statistical significance.

   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many
reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain
information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to
provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

   Information about the reliability of data from the CPS and guidance on estimating standard
errors is available at https://www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Union membership questions 

   Employed wage and salary workers are classified as union members if they answer “yes” to 
the following question: On this job, are you a member of a labor union or of an employee
association similar to a union? If the response is “no” to that question, then the interviewer
asks a second question: On this job, are you covered by a union or employee association
contract? If the response is “yes,” then these persons, along with those who responded “yes”
to being union members, are classified as represented by a union.  If the response is “no”
to both the first and second questions, then they are classified as nonunion.

Definitions

   The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.

   Union members. Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar
to a union.

   Union membership rate. Data refer to the proportion of total wage and salary workers who
are union members.
   
   Represented by unions. Data refer to both union members and workers who report no union
affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.

   Nonunion. Data refer to workers who are neither members of a union nor represented by a
union on their job.

   Usual weekly earnings. Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions and
include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received (at the main job in the
case of multiple jobholders). Prior to 1994, respondents were asked how much they usually
earned per week. Since January 1994, respondents have been asked to identify the easiest
way for them to report earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice monthly, monthly, annually,
other) and how much they usually earn in the reported time period. Earnings reported on a
basis other than weekly are converted to a weekly equivalent. The term "usual" is as perceived
by the respondent. If the respondent asks for a definition of usual, interviewers are instructed
to define the term as more than half of the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months.

   Median earnings. The median is the amount which divides a given earnings distribution into
two equal groups, one having earnings above the median and the other having earnings below the
median. The estimating procedure places each reported or calculated weekly earnings value into
$50-wide intervals which are centered around multiples of $50. The actual value is estimated
through the linear interpolation of the interval in which the median lies.

   Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in
kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors.
Union membership and earnings data exclude all self-employed workers, both those with
incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses.

   Full-time workers. Workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or
principal job.

   Part-time workers. Workers who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week at their sole or
principal job.

   Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Refers to persons who identified themselves in the enumeration
process as being Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic
or Latino may be of any race.