Rank | State | Percent union members | Percent change | Union members | Percent represented by unions | Percent change | Represented by unions | Total employed | Right to Work |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hawaii | 23.4 | 2.2% | 138,000 | 25.6 | 2.2% | 147,000 | 573,000 | No |
2 | New York | 20.6 | 0.1% | 1,711,000 | 21.5 | 0.6% | 1,787,000 | 8,300,000 | No |
3 | Washington | 16.5 | 1.5% | 576,000 | 18.1 | 1.0% | 632,000 | 3,491,000 | No |
4 | New Jersey | 16.1 | 1.2% | 679,000 | 17.3 | 1.3% | 729,000 | 4,211,000 | No |
5 | Connecticut | 15.9 | 1.7% | 255,000 | 16.9 | 1.5% | 272,000 | 1,610,000 | No |
6 | California | 15.4 | 0.7% | 2,514,000 | 16.9 | 0.7% | 2,769,000 | 16,349,000 | No |
7 | Alaska | 14.8 | 1.2% | 45,000 | 15.2 | 2.1% | 47,000 | 307,000 | No |
8 | Vermont | 14.3 | 2.2% | 43,000 | 13.4 | 2.0% | 46,000 | 301,000 | No |
9 | Oregon | 14.1 | 1.4% | 255,000 | 15.0 | 1.9% | 270,000 | 1,808,000 | No |
10 | Minnesota | 13.3 | 0.9% | 356,000 | 14.1 | 1.1% | 378,000 | 2,673,000 | No |
11 | Pennsylvania | 12.9 | 0.2% | 749,000 | 13.6 | 0.6% | 822,000 | 5,786,000 | No |
12 | Michigan | 12.8 | 1.2% | 564,000 | 14.1 | 1.2% | 623,000 | 4,409,000 | No |
13 | Illinois | 12.8 | 0.3% | 708,000 | 13.6 | 0.5% | 755,000 | 5,537,000 | No |
14 | Massachusetts | 12.6 | 0.1% | 412,000 | 13.6 | 0.2% | 443,000 | 3,267,000 | No |
15 | Ohio | 12.5 | 0.3% | 641,000 | 13.5 | 0.5% | 691,000 | 5,108,000 | No |
16 | Nevada | 12.4 | 1.1% | 171,000 | 14.5 | 1.7% | 201,000 | 1,382,000 | Yes |
17 | Rhode Island | 12.3 | 3.8% | 62,000 | 13.2 | 4.5% | 67,000 | 507,000 | No |
18 | Montana | 11.8 | 0.6% | 56,000 | 13.0 | 0.7% | 61,000 | 470,000 | No |
19 | Maryland | 10.7 | 0.9% | 302,000 | 12.8 | 0.4% | 362,000 | 2,822,000 | No |
20 | Missouri | 9.3 | 0.3% | 255,000 | 10.6 | 0.2% | 286,000 | 2,734,000 | No |
21 | New Hampshire | 9.3 | 0.8% | 62,000 | 10.9 | 0.3% | 73,000 | 668,000 | No |
22 | Maine | 9.2 | 52,000 | 10.8 | 0.7% | 61,000 | 566,000 | No | |
23 | District of Columbia | 9.1 | 32,000 | 10.4 | 36,000 | 347,000 | No | ||
24 | Kansas | 8.9 | 0.9% | 120,000 | 10.6 | 1.5% | 144,000 | 1,360,000 | Yes |
25 | Kentucky | 8.8 | 0.9% | 152,000 | 11.3 | 1.0% | 194,000 | 1,719,000 | Yes |
26 | Delaware | 8.8 | 0.3% | 38,000 | 10.1 | 0.7% | 44,000 | 436,000 | No |
27 | West Virginia | 8.7 | 0.5% | 60,000 | 10.1 | 0.1% | 70,000 | 691,000 | Yes |
28 | Indiana | 8.0 | 0.6% | 245,000 | 9.1 | 0.5% | 278,000 | 3,054,000 | Yes |
29 | Alabama | 7.5 | 0.3% | 156,000 | 8.6 | 0.2% | 180,000 | 2,088,000 | Yes |
30 | New Mexico | 7.5 | 1.3% | 60,000 | 9.1 | 1.5% | 73,000 | 805,000 | No |
31 | Wisconsin | 7.4 | 0.3% | 205,000 | 8.4 | 0.4% | 232,000 | 2,761,000 | Yes |
32 | Nebraska | 7.3 | 0.8% | 68,000 | 9.4 | 1.3% | 88,000 | 940,000 | Yes |
33 | Iowa | 7.2 | 0.2% | 107,000 | 8.8 | 0.1% | 131,000 | 1,490,000 | Yes |
34 | Mississippi | 7.0 | 1.4% | 75,000 | 9.8 | 2.6% | 106,000 | 1,081,000 | Yes |
35 | Colorado | 6.9 | 0.2% | 189,000 | 8.6 | 1.1% | 235,000 | 2,730,000 | No |
36 | Oklahoma | 6.8 | 1.3% | 115,000 | 7.7 | 0.7% | 132,000 | 1,705,000 | Yes |
37 | North Dakota | 6.2 | 0.2% | 22,000 | 7.5 | 0.1% | 27,000 | 359,000 | Yes |
38 | Tennessee | 6.0 | 0.5% | 178,000 | 6.9 | 0.6% | 205,000 | 2,981,000 | Yes |
39 | Wyoming | 5.6 | 14,000 | 6.6 | 0.7% | 17,000 | 256,000 | Yes | |
40 | Arkansas | 5.1 | 0.2% | 62,000 | 5.8 | 0.1% | 71,000 | 1,217,000 | Yes |
41 | Florida | 4.7 | 0.2% | 442,000 | 6.1 | 0.5% | 578,000 | 9,453,000 | Yes |
42 | Georgia | 4.6 | 0.2% | 211,000 | 5.4 | 250,000 | 4,626,000 | Yes | |
43 | Idaho | 4.5 | 0.2% | 37,000 | 5.5 | 0.4% | 44,000 | 810,000 | Yes |
44 | Texas | 4.5 | 0.4% | 586,000 | 5.4 | 0.3% | 701,000 | 13,019,000 | Yes |
45 | Louisiana | 4.3 | 0.1% | 76,000 | 5.2 | 91,000 | 1,765,000 | Yes | |
48 | Virginia | 4.3 | 0.6% | 176,000 | 5.6 | 1.1% | 226,000 | 4,042,000 | Yes |
47 | Arizona | 4.2 | 1.3% | 133,000 | 4.8 | 1.4% | 152,000 | 3,164,000 | Yes |
48 | Utah | 4.1 | 0.2% | 65,000 | 8.4 | 0.3% | 134,000 | 1,584,000 | Yes |
49 | South Dakota | 3.6 | 0.5% | 15,000 | 4.2 | 18,000 | 425,000 | Yes | |
50 | North Carolina | 2.7 | 0.1% | 125,000 | 3.3 | 0.6% | 152,000 | 4,623,000 | Yes |
51 | South Carolina | 2.3 | 0.6% | 49,000 | 3.0 | 1.0% | 63,000 | 2,130,000 | Yes |
— | United States | 10.0 | 0.1% | 14,424,000 | 11.2 | 0.1% | 16,193,000 | 144,541,000 | N/A |
A trade union or labor union, often simply referred to as a union, is an organisation of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with industrial unionism, as it is a general union, subdivided between the various industries which employ its members. The philosophy and tactics of the IWW are described as "revolutionary industrial unionism", with ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 60 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers. The AFL-CIO engages in substantial political spending and activism, typically in support of progressive and pro-labor policies.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare, including hospital, home care and nursing home workers; public services ; and property services.
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has just under 3 million members and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The NEA had a budget of more than $341 million for the 2012–2013 fiscal year. Becky Pringle is the NEA's current president.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America. The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors. The union has 27 locals in Canada via CWA-SCA Canada representing about 8,000 members. CWA has several affiliated subsidiary labor unions bringing total membership to over 700,000. CWA is headquartered in Washington, DC, and affiliated with the AFL–CIO, the Strategic Organizing Center, the Canadian Labour Congress, and UNI Global Union.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada.
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the United Steelworkers represents workers in Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. The United Steelworkers represent workers in a diverse range of industries, including primary and fabricated metals, paper, chemicals, glass, rubber, heavy-duty conveyor belting, tires, transportation, utilities, container industries, pharmaceuticals, call centers, museums, and health care.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year later it was renamed the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The B of LE took its present name in 2004 when it became a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).
Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger trade unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.
Unions have been compared across countries by growth and decline patterns, by violence levels, and by kinds of political activity.
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is a healthcare union in the United States, with a membership of 400,000 including retirees. It is a local union within the Service Employees International Union. It is a former local of 1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, corrections officers, sanitation workers, police officers, firefighters, and childcare providers. Founded in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1932, AFSCME is part of the AFL–CIO, one of the two main labor federations in the United States. AFSCME has had four presidents since its founding.
Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, is a branch of Service Employees International Union headquartered in New York City which mainly represents building workers and has about 150,000 members in ten northeastern states, Washington, D.C., Florida and other parts of the United States
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada; on the East Coast, the dominant union is the International Longshoremen's Association. The union was established in 1937 after the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike, a three-month-long strike that culminated in a four-day general strike in San Francisco, California, and the Bay Area. It disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO on August 30, 2013.
Collective agreement coverage or union representation refers to the proportion of people in a country population whose terms and conditions at work are made by collective bargaining, between an employer and a trade union, rather than by individual contracts. This is invariably higher than the union membership rate, because collective agreements almost always protect non-members in a unionised workplace. This means that, rather than individuals who have weaker bargaining power representing themselves in negotiations, people organise to represent each other together when negotiating for better pay and conditions in their workplace. The number of people who are covered by collective agreements is higher than the number of union members, and in many cases substantially higher, because when trade unions make collective agreements they aim to cover everyone at work, even those who have not necessarily joined for membership.
The union density or union membership rate conveys the number of trade union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in a given industry or country. This is normally lower than collective agreement coverage rate, which refers to all people whose terms of work are collectively negotiated. Trade unions bargain with employers to improve pay, conditions, and decision-making in workplaces; higher rates of union density within an industry or country will generally indicate higher levels of trade union bargaining power, lower rates of density will indicate less bargaining power.
Barry T. Hirsch is an American economist and the W.J. Usery Chair of the American Workplace at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies of Georgia State University. Hirsch is one of the leading economists on the subject of industrial relations in the United States.
Trade unions have historically been unrecognized by IBM. Since the company's foundation in 1911, it has not recognized any in the United States, despite efforts by workers to establish them from 1970 onward. In Australia, Germany and Italy, several trade unions have limited recognition from IBM. IBM has been able to minimize membership even in traditional union strongholds in Western Europe.