For Release: Wednesday, April 02, 2014
MIDWEST INFORMATION OFFICE: Chicago, Ill.
Technical information: (312) 353-1880 [email protected]
Media contact:
(312) 353-1138
14-535-CHI
www.bls.gov/regions/midwest
Union Membership in Wisconsin – 2013
In 2013, union members accounted for 12.3 percent of wage and salary workers in Wisconsin compared
with 11.2 percent in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Regional
Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that the union membership rate for the state was at its second-lowest
point since comparable state data first became available in 1989. Nationally, union members accounted for
11.3 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2013, the same percentage as 2012. Wisconsin’s
union membership rate peaked in 1989 at 20.9 percent and reached a series low of 11.2 percent in 2012.
Wisconsin had 317,000 wage and salary workers who were union members in 2013. An additional 20,000
wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee
association or contract while not being union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 14.5 million
wage and salary workers were union members in 2013 and 1.5 million 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 Wisconsin, annual averages, 2004-2013
(Numbers in thousands)
Members of unions (1)
Year
2004 ......................................................................
2005 ......................................................................
2006 ......................................................................
2007 ......................................................................
2008 ......................................................................
2009 ......................................................................
2010 ......................................................................
2011.......................................................................
2012 ......................................................................
2013 ......................................................................
Total employed
Percent of
employed
Total
2,597
2,551
2,587
2,631
2,642
2,528
2,508
2,538
2,605
2,569
Represented by unions (2)
414
410
386
376
396
385
355
339
293
317
16.0
16.1
14.9
14.3
15.0
15.2
14.2
13.3
11.2
12.3
Percent of
employed
Total
439
438
415
405
422
400
380
358
312
337
16.9
17.2
16.1
15.4
16.0
15.8
15.1
14.1
12.0
13.1
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. 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, two were located in the Midwest, three in the
Northeast, and the remaining four bordered the Pacific Ocean. (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 (both 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 U.S. 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 union membership rate and the employment level. For
example, Texas had about one-fourth as many union members as New York, despite having 2.7 million
more wage and salary employees. 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).
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 households. The union membership and earnings data are tabulated from one-quarter of the
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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: 1-800-877-8339.
Definitions
The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.
Union members. Members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
Represented by unions. Union members, as well as 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, but, for the purposes of the
union membership and earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or not
their businesses are incorporated.
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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.
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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
(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.
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.
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