For Release: Wednesday, February 26, 2014
SOUTHEAST INFORMATION OFFICE: Atlanta, Ga.
Technical information: (404) 893-4222 [email protected]
Media contact:
(404) 893-4220
14-214-ATL
www.bls.gov/regions/southeast
Union Membership in Kentucky-2013
In 2013, union members accounted for 11.2 percent of wage and salary workers in Kentucky, compared
with 10.0 percent in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Regional
Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that at its peak in 1989, the first year for which comparable state data
was available, the union membership rate for the state was 14.8 percent. Kentucky’s union membership rate
was at its lowest (8.6 percent) in both 2008 and 2009. Nationwide, union members accounted for 11.3
percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2013, the same as in 2012. Kentucky’s rate has never
exceeded the nationwide average in the history of the series.
Kentucky had 194,000 union members in 2013. An additional 32,000 wage and salary workers were
represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee association or contract while not
union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 14.5 million wage and salary workers were union
members in 2013 and 1.5 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 Kentucky, annual averages, 2004-2013
(numbers in thousands)
Members of unions (1)
Year
2004 ......................................................................
2005 ......................................................................
2006 ......................................................................
2007 ......................................................................
2008 ......................................................................
2009 ......................................................................
2010 ......................................................................
2011.......................................................................
2012 ......................................................................
2013 ......................................................................
Total employed
Total
1,699
1,696
1,752
1,734
1,703
1,657
1,642
1,678
1,742
1,735
Represented by unions (2)
Percent of
employed
164
164
172
157
146
142
147
150
174
194
9.6
9.7
9.8
9.1
8.6
8.6
8.9
8.9
10.0
11.2
Percent of
employed
Total
197
184
196
192
163
173
166
173
198
226
11.6
10.8
11.2
11.1
9.6
10.5
10.1
10.3
11.4
13.0
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. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of
whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
In 2013, 20 states had union membership rates above the U.S. average, of which 9 had rates above 15
percent. (See table 1.) Of the nine states with the highest rates, four were located in the West, three in the
Northeast, and the remaining two were in the Midwest. (See chart 2.) New York had the highest rate at 24.4
percent, followed by Alaska (23.1 percent) and Hawaii (22.1 percent). In fact, New York has had the highest
union membership rate in the nation for 17 of the past 19 years.
Thirty states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below the national average of 11.3
percent in 2013. Nine of these states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent with North Carolina
having the lowest at 3.0 percent. The next lowest rate was recorded in Arkansas (3.5 percent), followed by
Mississippi and South Carolina (each at 3.7 percent). Among the nine states with the lowest union
membership rates, six were located in the South, two in the West, and one in the Midwest.
Over half of the 14.5 million union members in the United States lived in just seven states (California, 2.4
million; New York, 2.0 million; Illinois, 0.9 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.
State union membership levels depend on both the employment level and union membership rate. For
example, Kentucky (1,735,000) and Louisiana (1,728,000) had comparable numbers of wage and salary
employees in 2013 but Kentucky had over 100,000 more union members. Conversely, North Carolina and
Hawaii had comparable numbers of union members (117,000 and 121,000, respectively), though North
Carolina's wage and salary employment (3.9 million) was more than seven times that of Hawaii (549,000).
(See table 1.)
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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 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.
Union membership data, particularly for levels, are not strictly comparable for earlier years because of the
introduction of updated population controls used in the CPS. For technical documentation and related
information, including reliability of the CPS estimates, see 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.
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.
Represented by unions. Data refer to both union members and workers who have 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.
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Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2012–2013 annual averages
(Numbers in thousands)
2012
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 ...................................
Total
employed
1,807
298
2,434
1,157
14,483
2,165
1,541
377
309
7,602
3,914
537
613
5,486
2,702
1,390
1,248
1,742
1,733
559
2,636
2,896
3,785
2,465
1,113
2,507
392
864
1,101
621
3,796
780
7,936
3,805
329
4,800
1,531
1,526
5,452
455
1,773
351
2,586
10,590
1,179
288
3,592
2,776
697
2,605
252
Members of
unions(1)
Total
166
67
125
37
2,489
169
216
39
27
440
171
116
29
801
246
145
85
174
107
64
280
417
629
351
48
224
54
52
162
65
611
50
1,841
112
20
604
115
240
734
81
58
20
124
599
61
31
159
513
84
293
17
2013
Represented by
unions(2)
Percent
of
employed
9.2
22.4
5.1
3.2
17.2
7.8
14.0
10.4
8.6
5.8
4.4
21.6
4.8
14.6
9.1
10.4
6.8
10.0
6.2
11.5
10.6
14.4
16.6
14.2
4.3
8.9
13.9
6.0
14.7
10.5
16.1
6.5
23.2
2.9
6.1
12.6
7.5
15.7
13.5
17.8
3.3
5.6
4.8
5.7
5.2
10.7
4.4
18.5
12.1
11.2
6.7
Total
190
71
159
43
2,666
190
232
44
32
555
210
124
36
852
269
172
105
198
130
78
325
470
648
368
64
253
65
70
181
74
636
68
1,975
162
27
665
140
250
787
84
82
24
152
721
77
38
197
541
91
312
20
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
4
Percent
of
employed
10.5
23.9
6.5
3.7
18.4
8.8
15.1
11.8
10.3
7.3
5.4
23.2
5.8
15.5
10.0
12.4
8.4
11.4
7.5
13.9
12.3
16.2
17.1
14.9
5.7
10.1
16.5
8.1
16.4
12.0
16.8
8.7
24.9
4.3
8.2
13.9
9.1
16.4
14.4
18.4
4.6
6.7
5.9
6.8
6.6
13.1
5.5
19.5
13.1
12.0
8.1
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
Members of
unions(1)
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
Represented by
unions(2)
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
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
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
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 unincorporated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of
January data.
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