Data show working people on the rise
According to its annual report on union membership, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the number of workers belonging to a union rose by 260,000 nationwide last year.
The increase reflects a wave of organizing victories across a range of industries that have brought higher wages, better benefits and a more secure future for working people.
In Oregon, overall union membership increased from 228,000 to 262,000 — a 1.4 percent increase. Meanwhile, the Oregon AFL-CIO, a federation of unions that also includes OSEA, saw the membership of its affiliated unions grow by 2.4 percent.
“These numbers tell us that unions still have a powerful message that resonates with workers,” OSEA President Tim Stoelb said. “That message is: There’s strength in numbers. By joining together in a union, we have the ability to protect the things our families need, such as fair wages, quality health benefits and paid time off to care for our loved ones.”
The data also showed the median weekly earnings of union members continued to be higher than those of comparable nonunion workers in both the public ($1,104 vs. $917) and private sectors ($984 vs. $816).
Other national trends identified in the report included:
- Workers in so-called “Right-To-Work” states, such as South Carolina and Michigan, are joining unions by the thousands.
- Young workers continue to drive union growth. Since 2012, union membership among workers under 35 has continued to rise. In 2017, they made up three-quarters of new members.
- Professionals and information industry workers continue to drive growth, reflecting key organizing successes by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
- Recent victories are among workers across sectors ranging from media employees to charter school teachers and library professionals to the 20,000 doctors who joined unions in the last year.
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