For Release: Thursday, February 05, 2015
SOUTHWEST INFORMATION OFFICE: Dallas, Texas
Technical information: (972) 850-4800 [email protected]
Media contact:
(972) 850-4800
15-121-DAL
www.bls.gov/regions/southwest
Union Membership in Oklahoma - 2014
In 2014, union members accounted for 6.0 percent of wage and salary workers in Oklahoma, compared with
7.5 percent in 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W.
Suchman noted that the union membership rate for the state was at its peak in 1990 at 10.6 percent and at its
low point in 2005 at 5.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Nationwide, union members accounted for 11.1
percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2014, down 0.2 percentage point from 2013. Since 1989,
when comparable state data became available, Oklahoma union membership rates have been below the U.S.
average.
Oklahoma had 89,000 union members in 2014. In addition to these members, another 17,000 wage and
salary workers in Oklahoma were represented by a union on their main job or covered by an employee
association or contract while not being union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 14.6 million
wage and salary workers were union members in 2014 and 1.6 million wage and salary workers were not
affiliated with a union but had jobs covered by a union contract.
Table A. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers in Oklahoma, annual averages, 2004-2014
(numbers in thousands)
Members of unions (1)
Year
2004 ......................................................................
2005 ......................................................................
2006 ......................................................................
2007 ......................................................................
2008 ......................................................................
2009 ......................................................................
2010 ......................................................................
2011.......................................................................
2012 ......................................................................
2013 ......................................................................
2014 ......................................................................
Total employed
Percent of
employed
Total
1,402
1,432
1,453
1,456
1,529
1,456
1,418
1,458
1,531
1,516
1,465
Represented by unions (2)
86
77
93
103
102
83
77
94
115
114
89
Percent of
employed
Total
6.1
5.4
6.4
7.1
6.6
5.7
5.5
6.4
7.5
7.5
6.0
100
91
112
124
127
107
99
113
140
144
106
7.1
6.4
7.7
8.5
8.3
7.3
6.9
7.7
9.1
9.5
7.2
Footnotes
(1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
(2) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union, as well as workers who report no union affiliation but
whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.
Note: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded, both those with
incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of
January data.
In 2014, 19 states had union membership rates above the U.S. average, of which 9 had rates above 15.0
percent. (See table 1.) Of the nine states with the highest rates, five bordered the Pacific Ocean, three were
located in the Northeast, and the remaining state was in the Midwest. (See chart 2.) New York had the
highest rate at 24.6 percent, followed by Alaska (22.8 percent) and Hawaii (21.8 percent). New York has
had the highest union membership rate in the nation for 18 of the past 20 years. One state, Vermont, had a
union membership rate that matched the U.S. average.
Thirty states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below the national average of 11.1
percent in 2014. Nine states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent. Among these nine states, seven
were located in the South, one was in the Midwest, and one was in the West. North Carolina had the lowest
rate at 1.9 percent. The next lowest rates were in South Carolina (2.2 percent) and Mississippi and Utah (3.7
percent each). Union membership rates declined over the year in 27 states and the District of Columbia, rose
in 18 states, and were unchanged in 5 states.
State union membership levels depend on both the employment level and the union membership rate. The
largest numbers of union members lived in California (2.5 million) and New York (2.0 million). Over half
of the 14.6 million union members in the U.S. lived in just seven states (California, 2.5 million; New York,
2.0 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 the
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 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.
2
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 www.bls.gov/cps/
documentation.htm#pop.
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 upon 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 discussion in this release preserves the
longtime 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 www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.
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.
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.
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.
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Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2013-2014 annual averages
(numbers in thousands)
2013
Members of unions
State
Alabama ....................................
Alaska........................................
Arizona ......................................
Arkansas ...................................
California ...................................
Colorado....................................
Connecticut ...............................
Delaware ...................................
District of Columbia ...................
Florida .......................................
Georgia......................................
Hawaii........................................
Idaho .........................................
Illinois ........................................
Indiana.......................................
Iowa ...........................................
Kansas ......................................
Kentucky....................................
Louisiana ...................................
Maine.........................................
Maryland....................................
Massachusetts ..........................
Michigan ....................................
Minnesota..................................
Mississippi .................................
Missouri .....................................
Montana ....................................
Nebraska ...................................
Nevada ......................................
New Hampshire.........................
New Jersey................................
New Mexico...............................
New York ...................................
North Carolina ...........................
North Dakota .............................
Ohio ...........................................
Oklahoma ..................................
Oregon ......................................
Pennsylvania .............................
Rhode Island .............................
South Carolina...........................
South Dakota.............................
Tennessee .................................
Texas .........................................
Utah ...........................................
Vermont .....................................
Virginia.......................................
Washington................................
West Virginia .............................
Wisconsin ..................................
Wyoming ...................................
(1)
Total
employed
1,894
306
2,452
1,072
14,835
2,243
1,535
370
308
7,655
3,958
549
617
5,397
2,682
1,421
1,252
1,735
1,728
574
2,665
2,940
3,889
2,532
1,040
2,537
403
870
1,154
623
3,814
751
8,149
3,879
342
4,786
1,516
1,504
5,501
459
1,855
362
2,543
10,877
1,253
285
3,601
2,882
686
2,569
259
Total
203
71
122
38
2,430
171
207
38
29
414
209
121
29
851
249
143
94
194
75
64
308
401
633
362
38
219
52
63
169
60
611
46
1,986
117
22
605
114
208
701
77
69
17
155
518
49
31
180
546
87
317
15
Percent
of
employed
10.7
23.1
5.0
3.5
16.4
7.6
13.5
10.3
9.3
5.4
5.3
22.1
4.7
15.8
9.3
10.1
7.5
11.2
4.3
11.1
11.6
13.7
16.3
14.3
3.7
8.6
13.0
7.3
14.6
9.6
16.0
6.2
24.4
3.0
6.4
12.6
7.5
13.9
12.7
16.9
3.7
4.8
6.1
4.8
3.9
10.9
5.0
18.9
12.7
12.3
5.7
2014
Represented by
unions (2)
Total
222
75
147
44
2,579
207
220
41
34
529
248
129
36
882
275
171
106
226
95
75
349
430
656
381
44
264
60
79
186
67
632
55
2,104
184
29
674
144
223
754
82
86
21
188
647
67
38
229
568
93
337
17
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
4
Percent
of
employed
11.7
24.5
6.0
4.1
17.4
9.2
14.3
11.0
11.0
6.9
6.3
23.6
5.8
16.3
10.3
12.0
8.4
13.0
5.5
13.1
13.1
14.6
16.9
15.0
4.2
10.4
14.8
9.0
16.1
10.7
16.6
7.3
25.8
4.8
8.5
14.1
9.5
14.8
13.7
17.8
4.7
5.8
7.4
6.0
5.4
13.2
6.4
19.7
13.5
13.1
6.4
Members of unions
(1)
Total
employed
1,887
307
2,593
1,108
15,135
2,328
1,564
384
325
8,042
3,926
572
641
5,500
2,802
1,459
1,287
1,714
1,834
566
2,612
3,036
4,028
2,538
1,028
2,559
414
877
1,173
626
3,860
763
8,060
3,936
353
4,958
1,465
1,554
5,525
453
1,884
363
2,514
11,205
1,236
286
3,665
2,914
687
2,626
255
Total
204
70
138
52
2,472
221
231
38
28
455
170
124
34
831
299
156
95
189
96
62
310
415
585
360
38
214
52
64
169
62
635
43
1,980
76
18
615
89
243
703
68
41
18
127
543
46
32
179
491
73
306
17
Percent
of
employed
10.8
22.8
5.3
4.7
16.3
9.5
14.8
9.9
8.6
5.7
4.3
21.8
5.3
15.1
10.7
10.7
7.4
11.0
5.2
11.0
11.9
13.7
14.5
14.2
3.7
8.4
12.7
7.3
14.4
9.9
16.5
5.7
24.6
1.9
5.0
12.4
6.0
15.6
12.7
15.1
2.2
4.9
5.0
4.8
3.7
11.1
4.9
16.8
10.6
11.7
6.7
Represented by
unions (2)
Total
228
75
173
60
2,652
250
245
43
35
561
193
131
43
880
335
184
116
219
118
71
347
445
631
380
46
249
57
79
192
72
664
56
2,081
126
24
688
106
264
754
72
61
22
141
700
57
37
228
536
80
327
19
Percent
of
employed
12.1
24.4
6.7
5.4
17.5
10.7
15.7
11.3
10.7
7.0
4.9
22.9
6.7
16.0
12.0
12.6
9.0
12.8
6.4
12.5
13.3
14.7
15.7
15.0
4.5
9.7
13.8
9.0
16.4
11.5
17.2
7.4
25.8
3.2
6.9
13.9
7.2
17.0
13.7
15.8
3.2
6.0
5.6
6.2
4.6
13.1
6.2
18.4
11.6
12.5
7.5
Footnotes
(1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
(2) 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.
Note: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded, both those with
incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorportated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of
January data.
5
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