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April 18, 2008

 

UNION MEMBERSHIP RATE IN COLORADO IS 8.7 PERCENT IN 2007

In 2007, the number of workers in Colorado belonging to a union rose by 26,000 to 191,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that union members accounted for 8.7 percent of wage and salary workers in Colorado in 2007, compared with 7.7 percent in 2006. At its peak in 1990, the union membership rate for the State was 10.5 percent. (See chart A.)

Nationally, the number of workers belonging to a union rose by 311,000 to nearly 15.7 million in 2007. 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 national union data were available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent. Since 1989, when state data have been available for comparison, the union membership rate in Colorado has been below the U.S. average every year.

Chart A. Members of unions as a percent of employed in the United States and Colorado, 1989-2007

Members of unions as a percent of employed in the United States and Colorado

In addition to the 191,000 wage and salary workers in Colorado who were union members in 2007, another 11,000 workers were represented by a union on their main job, while not being union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 1.6 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job but not union members themselves.

Table A. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers in Colorado, annual averages, 1989-2007 (Numbers in thousands)
Year Total employed Members of unions Represented by unions
Total Percent of employed Total Percent of employed

1989

 1,395 129 9.3 158 11.3

1990

 1,473 154 10.5 177 12.0

1991

 1,480 145 9.8 174 11.7

1992

 1,478 150 10.2 177 11.9

1993

 1,559 153 9.8 178 11.4

1994

 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

1995

 1,725 170 9.9 208 12.0

1996

 1,722 167 9.7 185 10.8

1997

 1,814 174 9.6 201 11.1

1998

 1,887 171 9.1 189 10.0

1999

 1,927 181 9.4 199 10.4

2000

 1,984 187 9.4 209 10.6

2001

 2,000 179 8.9 207 10.3

2002

 1,996 157 7.9 180 9.0

2003

 2,007 156 7.8 180 9.0

2004

 2,050 172 8.4 191 9.3

2005

 2,052 170 8.3 193 9.4

2006

 2,154 165 7.7 186 8.6

2007

 2,204 191 8.7 202 9.2
(1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
(2) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union, as well as workers who are not members but whose jobs are covered by a union or employee association contract.
n/a - Not available.

In 2007, 30 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 12.1 percent, while 20 states had higher rates. (See table 1.) Nationwide, union membership rates were down from those of 2006 in 27 states, up in 20 states (including Colorado), and unchanged in 3 states and the District of Columbia.

Five states reported union membership rates below 5.0 percent in 2007-North Carolina (3.0 percent), Virginia (3.7 percent), South Carolina (4.1 percent), Georgia (4.4 percent), and Texas (4.7 percent). (See chart 1.) Four states had union membership rates over 20.0 percent-New York (25.2 percent), Alaska (23.8 percent), Hawaii (23.4 percent), and Washington (20.2 percent).

Colorado is one of eight states in the Mountain division; in this geographic grouping, only Montana (13.5 percent) and Nevada (15.4 percent) posted union membership rates above the national average. In the Middle Atlantic and the Pacific divisions, all of the states reported union membership rates above that for the United States. In contrast, the states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions all had union membership rates that were below the national average.

Nearly half (7.8 million) of the 15.7 million union members in the United States lived in 6 states (California, 2.5 million; New York, 2.1 million; Illinois, 0.8 million; Michigan, 0.8 million; Pennsylvania, 0.8 million; and New Jersey, 0.7 million), though these states accounted for only about one-third of wage and salary employment nationally.

State union membership levels depend on both the employment level and union membership rate. For example, Colorado and Georgia had comparable numbers of union members even though Colorado had nearly 2.0 million fewer wage and salary workers. Similarly, Virginia and Hawaii had virtually the same number of union members, even though Virginia's wage and salary employment was more than six times that of Hawaii.

Technical Note

The estimates in this release are obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides the basic information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment in the U.S. The survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau from a scientifically selected sample of about 60,000 households nationwide. The union membership data are tabulated from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded.

Union membership data, particularly levels, for each year are not strictly comparable with data for earlier years because of the introduction of revised population controls used in the CPS. The effect of the revised population controls on the union membership estimates is unknown. However, the effect of the new controls in 2007 on the monthly CPS estimates for the U.S. was to increase the December 2006 employment level by 153,000 and the unemployment level by 10,000. The updated controls had little or no effect on unemployment rates and other ratios, such as union membership rates. For additional information, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2007" in the February 2007 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/cps07adj.pdf.

For personal assistance or further information on union membership, as well as other Bureau data, contact the Kansas City Information Office at 816-285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200, TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending upon the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error.

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating standard errors, see the Household Data section of the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" at http://www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_methods.pdf.

Definitions

The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.

Union members.  Members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.

Represented by unions.  Union members, as well as workers who have no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.

Wage and salary workers.  Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors, but, for the purposes of the union membership and earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated.

Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2006-2007 (Numbers in thousands)
State 2006 2007
Total employed Members of unions Represented by unions Total employed Members of unions Represented by unions
Total Percent of employed Total Percent of employed Total Percent of employed Total Percent of employed

Alabama

 1,930 170 8.8 194 10.0 1,895 180 9.5 201 10.6

Alaska

 280 62 22.2 67 23.8 284 68 23.8 70 24.7

Arizona

 2,584 197 7.6 250 9.7 2,619 230 8.8 255 9.7

Arkansas

 1,130 58 5.1 67 6.0 1,154 62 5.4 75 6.5

California

 14,501 2,273 15.7 2,444 16.9 14,856 2,474 16.7 2,650 17.8

Colorado

 2,154 165 7.7 186 8.6 2,204 191 8.7 202 9.2

Connecticut

 1,591 247 15.6 263 16.5 1,617 253 15.6 269 16.6

Delaware

 396 43 10.8 45 11.4 396 47 12.0 50 12.8

District of Columbia

 246 25 10.3 30 12.2 278 29 10.3 38 13.6

Florida

 7,676 397 5.2 497 6.5 7,741 455 5.9 562 7.3

Georgia

 3,974 176 4.4 230 5.8 4,181 186 4.4 226 5.4

Hawaii

 562 139 24.7 146 25.9 556 130 23.4 135 24.2

Idaho

 620 37 6.0 45 7.2 635 33 5.3 41 6.4

Illinois

 5,684 931 16.4 979 17.2 5,802 842 14.5 884 15.2

Indiana

 2,787 334 12.0 362 13.0 2,779 333 12.0 359 12.9

Iowa

 1,424 161 11.3 199 14.0 1,417 149 10.5 185 13.1

Kansas

 1,236 99 8.0 115 9.3 1,274 89 7.0 110 8.7

Kentucky

 1,752 172 9.8 196 11.2 1,734 157 9.1 192 11.1

Louisiana

 1,676 107 6.4 121 7.2 1,670 94 5.6 108 6.5

Maine

 584 69 11.9 79 13.5 574 67 11.7 79 13.8

Maryland

 2,614 342 13.1 386 14.8 2,598 335 12.9 376 14.5

Massachusetts

 2,859 414 14.5 438 15.3 2,882 379 13.2 402 14.0

Michigan

 4,299 842 19.6 879 20.4 4,193 819 19.5 865 20.6

Minnesota

 2,479 395 16.0 416 16.8 2,460 400 16.3 419 17.0

Mississippi

 1,065 60 5.6 78 7.3 1,068 72 6.7 95 8.9

Missouri

 2,610 284 10.9 310 11.9 2,585 275 10.7 308 11.9

Montana

 397 48 12.2 52 13.1 399 54 13.5 62 15.6

Nebraska

 831 66 7.9 79 9.5 836 65 7.8 81 9.7

Nevada

 1,124 167 14.8 191 17.0 1,177 182 15.4 208 17.7

New Hampshire

 620 63 10.1 70 11.3 631 61 9.7 70 11.2

New Jersey

 3,827 770 20.1 825 21.6 3,897 748 19.2 802 20.6

New Mexico

 796 62 7.8 92 11.5 800 62 7.7 91 11.4

New York

 8,115 1,981 24.4 2,060 25.4 8,150 2,055 25.2 2,146 26.3

North Carolina

 3,810 126 3.3 155 4.1 3,771 114 3.0 147 3.9

North Dakota

 300 20 6.8 24 8.0 303 19 6.4 23 7.6

Ohio

 5,170 734 14.2 801 15.5 5,187 730 14.1 797 15.4

Oklahoma

 1,453 93 6.4 112 7.7 1,456 103 7.1 124 8.5

Oregon

 1,527 211 13.8 225 14.7 1,582 227 14.3 243 15.4

Pennsylvania

 5,457 745 13.6 802 14.7 5,496 830 15.1 910 16.6

Rhode Island

 498 76 15.3 79 16.0 497 75 15.0 78 15.8

South Carolina

 1,775 59 3.3 74 4.2 1,873 78 4.1 111 5.9

South Dakota

 351 21 5.9 25 7.2 354 23 6.5 27 7.7

Tennessee

 2,550 153 6.0 174 6.8 2,596 138 5.3 166 6.4

Texas

 9,751 476 4.9 576 5.9 9,899 463 4.7 566 5.7

Utah

 1,121 61 5.4 69 6.1 1,153 67 5.8 78 6.8

Vermont

 305 34 11.0 39 12.9 288 30 10.4 35 12.2

Virginia

 3,446 139 4.0 179 5.2 3,502 129 3.7 167 4.8

Washington

 2,772 549 19.8 583 21.0 2,874 579 20.2 616 21.4

West Virginia

 710 101 14.2 110 15.5 724 97 13.3 107 14.7

Wisconsin

 2,587 386 14.9 415 16.1 2,631 376 14.3 405 15.4

Wyoming

 235 19 8.3 24 10.0 239 19 7.9 22 9.4
(1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
(2) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union as well as workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association.
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
Chart 1.  Union membership rates by state, 2007 annual averages

(U.S. rate = 12.1 percent)

Chart 1. Union membership rates by state, 2007 annual averages

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Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number (Federal Relay Service): 1-800-877-8339.
______________________________________________________________________

 

Last Modified Date: July 8, 2008