US union growth

Union membership in the United States rose by 428,000 to 16.1 million in 2008, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. And for the second year, union density (the proportion of workers in unions) increased — from 12.1% to 12.4%.

Much of the increase came in already unionised industries with only a small percentage coming through workplaces gaining union recognition for the first time. However, even in the private sector there was a small increase in union density from 7.5% to 7.6%.

The data also show that workers in education, training and library occupations had the highest unionisation rate at 38.7%, and that black workers were more likely to be unionised than were white, Asian or Hispanic workers.

President of the US union federation the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, said the numbers confirmed that, “if given the chance, American workers are choosing to join unions in larger numbers. Workers in unions are much more likely to have health care benefits and a pension than those without a union.In today’s economy, that’s the difference between sinking and swimming.”