For Release: Thursday, February 27, 2014
SOUTHEAST INFORMATION OFFICE: Atlanta, Ga.
Technical information: (404) 893-4222 [email protected]
Media contact:
(404) 893-4220
14-224-ATL
www.bls.gov/regions/southeast
Union Membership in Alabama - 2013
In 2013, union members accounted for 10.7 percent of wage and salary workers in Alabama, compared with
9.2 percent in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Regional
Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the union membership rate for the state was at its peak in 1993,
when it averaged 14.7 percent, and at its low point in 2003 at 8.1 percent. Nationwide, union members
accounted for 11.3 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2013, the same as in 2012. Since 1989,
when comparable state data became available, Alabama union membership rates have been below the U.S.
average.
Alabama had 203,000 union members in 2013. In addition to these members, another 19,000 wage and
salary workers in Alabama were represented by a union on their main job or 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 Alabama, 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
1,861
1,909
1,930
1,895
1,858
1,763
1,809
1,781
1,807
1,894
Represented by unions (2)
Percent of
employed
181
195
170
180
181
191
183
178
166
203
9.7
10.2
8.8
9.5
9.8
10.9
10.1
10.0
9.2
10.7
Percent of
employed
Total
213
223
194
201
199
212
203
193
190
222
11.5
11.7
10.0
10.6
10.7
12.0
11.2
10.8
10.5
11.7
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 a 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 24.4
percent, followed by Alaska (23.1 percent) and Hawaii (22.1 percent). In fact, New York has had the highest
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 (both at 3.7 percent). Among the nine states with the lowest union
memebership 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 the union membership rate. For
example, despite having similar number of wage and salary employees statewide, Alabama has nearly three
times the number of union members as South Carolina (203,000 and 69,000, respectively). 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 level (3.9 million) was more than
seven times that of Hawaii (549,000).
2
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 onequarter 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 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.
3
Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2012-2013 annual averages
2012
State
Total
employed
Members
of
unions (1)
Total
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 ...................................
1,807
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
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
Total
Percent employed
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
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
Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2012-2013 annual averages Continued
2012
State
Total
employed
Members
of
unions (1)
Total
Percent
of
employed
2013
Represented
by unions (2)
Total
Total
Percent employed
of
employed
Members
of
unions (1)
Total
Percent
of
employed
Represented
by unions (2)
Total
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or
principal job of full- and parttime 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.
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.
5
Percent
of
employed
6