Feb. 5, 2010:NWLP
2/2/10
9:47 AM
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Bureau of Labor Statistics report:
Union membership dropped by 771,000 in 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C.— With the
economy hemorrhaging jobs — almost
3.3 million jobs lost in 2009 — the lat-
est figures from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) show union member-
ship in 2009 dropped slightly, from
12.4 percent of the workforce to 12.3
percent.
Nationwide, union membership
dropped by 771,000, to 15.3 million in
2009, according to the BLS.
The recession eliminated jobs
across the private sector, but was felt
most deeply in manufacturing, trans-
portation and construction — the most
heavily unionized sectors of the na-
tion’s economy.
“The loss in union membership,”
said AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka, “is another indicator of the
terrible toll the economic crisis is tak-
ing on the nation’s middle class — not
just union members.”
In the state-by-state breakdown,
Washington ranked No. 4 in terms of
union density in 2009, with the state’s
574,000 union members accounting for
20.2 percent of the overall workforce.
The union-density percentage rose
slightly from 19.8 percent in 2008, as
total jobs in Washington dropped
65,000 and the number of union mem-
bers dropped 4,000.
Oregon ranked 11th in union den-
sity, with its 250,000 union members
accounting for 17 percent of the work-
force (up 0.4 percent from 2008). Total
jobs in Oregon dropped 95,000 and the
number of union members dropped
9,000.
Only New York (25.2 percent),
Hawaii (23.5 percent) and Alaska (22.3
percent) have higher unionization rates
than Washington.
“While I’m very encouraged that
Washington remains one of the most
unionized states in the country, polls
show that many more workers would
like to gain a voice at work by forming
a union, but they can’t,” said Rick Ben-
der, president of the Washington State
Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “Outdated
labor laws allow employers to coerce,
threaten and fire workers who support
unionization, with relative impunity.
That’s why passage of the Employee
Free Choice Act is so important.”
The data on union membership
were collected as part of the Current
Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a
monthly sample survey of about 60,000
households that obtains information on
employment among the nation’s civil-
ian noninstitutional population age 16
and over.
Some highlights about the union
workforce in the BLS survey included:
• Unionized workers still far out-
earn their nonunion colleagues, and the
gap is widening. The median weekly
salary for union members last year —
the point at which half are above that
dollar figure and half below — was
$908, up $22 from the year before. The
median for nonunion workers was
$710 in 2009, up $19 from 2008.
• The “wage gap” between men and
women is narrower for union members
than for everyone else — and it’s clos-
ing for union women while widening
for nonunion women.
The median weekly wage for union
women last year was $840, almost 88
percent of the $957 median for union
men. In 2008, union women earned 86
percent of what union men earned. The
median weekly wage gap among non-
Employees at Kaiser Permanente in
Los Angeles leave SEIU for new union
LOS ANGELES (PAI) — Three
groups of health care workers at
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Med-
ical Center voted Jan. 26 to leave
Service Employees International
Union for the newly created and inde-
pendent National Union of Healthcare
Workers.
SEIU has represented the more
than 2,000 registered nurses, psychi-
atric counselors, social workers and
health care professionals for the past
30 years.
Final tallies in the National Labor
Relations Board-monitored elections
showed registered nurses voted 746-
36 for NUHW, while health care pro-
fessionals went for the independent
union by a 189-29 margin. Psychiatric
counselors and social workers favored
NUHW 717-192.
Elsewhere in California, the Na-
tional Union of Healthcare Workers
has petitioned to hold elections at
dozens of health care facilities where
workers are currently represented by
SEIU.
SEIU has filed charges of unlawful
conduct against NUHW and investi-
gations of the charges by the NLRB
blocked those elections. “Some
charges have been withdrawn and
those remaining are expected to be re-
solved soon, clearing the way for fu-
ture balloting between the two
unions,” the NLRB said in its an-
nouncement of the Los Angeles re-
turns.
Some 100-plus other Kaiser units
— including more hospitals — could
vote between now and June in repre-
sentation contests involving 65,000
workers statewide.
The National Union of Healthcare
Workers victory in Los Angeles is part
of a long battle over California health
care workers, and over SEIU’s direc-
tion at the national level. The conflict
began several years ago when SEIU
officials at the national level reached
contract terms with various California
hospitals, going over the head of its
California affiliate, the 150,000-mem-
ber United Health Care Workers-West.
Affiliate President Sal Rosselli, then
an SEIU vice president and Executive
Board member, strongly protested
what he called sweetheart contracts
and how SEIU reached them without
member input. Rosselli also chal-
lenged top-down practices at SEIU.
In response, SEIU put United
Health Care Workers-West into
trusteeship, uncovering what it said
was evidence of misuse of union
money. It ousted Rosselli and other
officers. A hearing on the charges pro-
duced no proof. The conflict led
Rosselli, other officers, staffers and
activists to leave SEIU and form the
independent National Union of
Healthcare Workers.
union women versus nonunion men in
2009: $628 to $786. In 2009, nonunion
women earned 79.9 percent of what
nonunion men earned, down from 80.3
percent the year before.
• More public sector employees (7.9
million) belonged to a union than did
private sector employees (7.4 million).
• Workers in education, training, and
library occupations had the highest
unionization rate at 38.1 percent.
• Black workers were more likely to
be union members than were white,
Asian, or Hispanic workers.
• Among states, New York had the
highest union membership rate (25.2
percent) and North Carolina had the
lowest rate (3.1 percent).
• The biggest absolute increases in
union numbers from 2008 to 2009
were in the South: Texas (+59,000, to
508,000), Georgia (+26,000, to
177,000), Virginia (+20,000, to
166,000), and Louisiana (+19,000, to
99,000). Union densities in those states
still were all under 6 percent.
• Women are catching up in union
ranks: 13.3 percent of men are mem-
bers of a union, compared to 11.3 per-
cent of women. Last year, nearly 44
percent of all union members were
women. “The gap between their rates
has narrowed considerably since 1983,
when the rate for men was about 10
percentage points higher than the rate
for women. Between 1983 and 2009,
the union membership rate for men de-
clined by 11.4 percentage points, while
the rate for women declined by 3.3 per-
centage points,” BLS said.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
said the data shows that, along with
better wages, union members “have ac-
cess to better health care, retirement
and leave benefits. These numbers
make it clear that union jobs are good
jobs. These numbers show a need for
Congress to pass legislation to level the
playing field to enable more American
workers to access the benefits of union
membership.”
(Editor’s Note: Press Associates
Inc., the AFL-CIONow blog, and the
WSLC Reports contributed to the re-
port.)
Soccer deal a good one for Portland workers
A deal has been reached between the City of Portland and Portland Timbers’
owner Merritt Paulson’s Peregrine, LLC to turn PGE Park into a major league soc-
cer stadium.
Included in the $31 million pact is an agreement guaranteeing that the stadium
will be built by workers who earn a family wage and get health and retirement ben-
efits, and an agreement by the stadium operator to stay neutral during any union or-
ganizing campaign. The City has set a goal of 30 percent minority-owned contrac-
tors and 10 percent women-owned contractors on the redevelopment project.
The City has committed $11.9 million in bonds to help pay for the changes.
In a press release, Portland Mayor Sam Adams said the deal will “bring imme-
diate construction jobs to Portland and continuing revenue, visitors, and vital spend-
ing to Portland’s central city in the long term.”
Renovating the stadium will create approximately 200 construction jobs. Initial
work has already begun. Construction will cease during the baseball season and
start up again in early September. Turner Construction is the general contractor.
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FEBRUARY 5, 2010
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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