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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2013)
Union workers more likely to get benefits of every kind Union members are much more likely than nonunion workers to have retirement and health benefits, accord- ing to a July 17 report by the U.S. De- partment of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Fully 89 percent of union workers have an employer-provided retirement plan of some kind — compared to 48 percent of nonunion workers. Union members are both more likely to have access to a retirement benefit (95 to 63 percent) and more likely participate in it when they do have access (93 to 76 per- cent.) Meanwhile, 79 percent of union workers have employer-provided med- ical benefits, compared to 50 percent of nonunion workers. Again, union work- ers are more likely to have access to the benefit (95 vs. 68 percent) and more likely to participate (83 vs. 73 percent). Employers also pay a bigger share of Benefits of belonging Union beats nonunion for every kind of benefit union workers nonunion workers Retirement 89% 48% Medical 79% 50% Paid sick leave 82% 62% Paid vacation 75% 74% Paid holidays 81% 75% Category of benefit Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, March 2013. AUGUST 16, 2013 the health insurance premium in union workplaces: On average, union em- ployers pay 87 percent of the premium for single coverage, compared to 79 percent in nonunion workplaces. And for family coverage, union employers pay on average 80 percent of the pre- mium, compared to 65 percent for non- union employers. The union edge holds up, too, for other benefits, like paid sick leave: 84 percent of union workers have it, com- pared to 62 percent of nonunion work- ers. The difference is narrower for paid vacation (81 to 75 percent) and paid holidays (75 to 74 percent.) For each category of benefit, the dif- ference between union and nonunion is greatest in the private sector. In general, public sector workers in state and local government are more likely to have benefits than private sector workers, and the difference between union and non- union workers in the public sector isn’t as great. The BLS report uses data from a March 2013 survey of 11,893 employ- ers. Besides union and nonunion, the re- port also breaks down the benefit data by industry sector, size of employer, and whether workers are full- or part-time. Benefits are more common at large em- ployers and among full-time workers. It’s not clear in the report to what ex- tent union membership — by itself — is NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS responsible for the difference, since unionization is more common at large employers and among full-time workers. But the survey and the report are conducted annually, and the data — and the differences — are pretty consistent year to year. The data show that em- ployers are about as likely today to offer health benefits as they were five years ago, but that the employer share of health premiums has dropped a percent or two for both union and nonunion workers on average. Meanwhile, non- union workers are 3 percentage points less likely to have retirement benefits than they were five years ago, while union workers are actually three per- centage points more likely to have the benefits. The survey doesn’t distinguish between traditional defined benefit re- tirement plans, which are in decline, and the 401(k)-style “defined contribu- tion” retirement plans, which have be- come more common. PAGE 27
