2007 Union Members — 2008-01-25

In 2007, the number of workers belonging to a union rose by 311,000 to 15.7 million, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Union members accounted for 12.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers, essentially unchanged from 12.0 percent in 2006. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent. Some highlights from the 2007 data are: --Workers in the public sector had a union membership rate nearly five times that of private sector employees. --Education, training, and library occupations had the highest unioniz- ation rate among all occupations, at 37.2 percent, followed closely by protective service occupations at 35.2 percent. --Among demographic groups, the union membership rate was highest for black men and lowest for Hispanic women.