2005 Union Members — 2006-01-20

In 2005, 12.5 percent of wage and salary workers were union members, un- changed from 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The union membership rate has declined from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available. Some highlights from the 2005 data are: --Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers. --Workers in the public sector had a union membership rate more than four times that of private-sector employees. At 36.5 percent in 2005, the unionization rate for government workers was essentially unchanged from a year earlier; the rate for private in- dustry workers, at 7.8 percent, was also flat over the year. Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate, 41.9 percent. This group includes several heavily unionized oc- cupations, such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters.