Union membership hit record low in 2022

Union membership in the United States fell last year to a new low even as the labor movement scored a string of significant victories at high-profile companies, such as Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Chipotle and Trader Joe’s, which have long evaded unionization.

The share of the workforce in labor unions dropped to 10.1%, the lowest on record, the Labor Department said Thursday, even as the total number of union members in the United States grew by 273,000 last year. The labor movement could not keep up as the booming job market added 5.3 million jobs, and non-union jobs grew at a faster clip than union positions.

The share of the workforce in unions in the United States has been in a near-steady decline since the mid-1950s. Membership hit a record low of 10.3% in 2019 and matched that again in

2021, after a small uptick in 2020. At its peak in the 1950s, more than 1 in 3 workers belonged to unions.

The disappointing numbers for the U.S. labor movement come at a time of unprecedented worker leverage because of the tight labor market. American workers, particularly in low-wage jobs, have been able to demand higher pay and better treatment from employers as labor-participation rates remain low and job openings remain high with close to two job openings for every job seeker over the past year. That trend is only beginning to ease.

Union efforts and labor activism tend to flourish in tight labor markets because employers are less likely to retaliate against workers when they’re a scarce resource.

But the forces that have contributed to the ongoing decline of union membership over the past several decades remain stronger than ever, labor advocates say.

Employer opposition to unions, labor laws that do little to deter anti-union behavior and the inability of unions to win new members in fast-expanding industries continue to weaken unions.

In 2022, union membership in the public sector (33.1%) continued to be outpace the private sector (6%). Private employers have tended to take a more adversarial stance toward unions than government employers.

Union membership rates are higher among Black workers compared with white and Latino workers, in part, due to higher levels of public-sector employment among Black workers. Black union membership rates rose in 2022 to 11.6%. White and Latino membership rates fell to 10 and 8.8%.