From Labor Research Association

Four years of Republican control and a jobless recovery have wiped out more union jobs in manufacturing and pushed more public sector workers into nonunion positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released new data on union membership for 2004, documenting the ongoing decline in private sector unionization and an alarming drop in public sector unionization as well. The total number of workers represented by unions fell by 361,000 to 17.1 million, or 13.8 percent of the labor force, down from 14.3 percent in 2003.

The number of workers who are union members fell by 304,000 to 15.8 million, or 12.5 percent of the labor force, down from 12.9 percent in 2003, 13.3 percent in 2002, and 20.1 percent in 1984. More than one-third of the loss occurred in the manufacturing sector.

The most disturbing trend is documented in the data on union membership by age group. The percentage of workers 16 to 24 years old who are union members fell to 4.7 percent in 2004 from 5.1 percent in 2003.

The highest rates of unionization appear among the oldest workers, who are moving closer to retirement. Only 10.6 percent of workers age 25 to 34 are union members, compared with 16.8 percent of workers age 55 to 64.

The BLS also released the employment cost index for 2004. Wage and salary costs for union workers rose 2.8 percent for the year, slightly higher than the 2.4 percent for nonunion workers.

Benefit costs for union workers jumped 10.3 percent, compared with 6.2 percent for nonunion workers, reflecting the fact that unions have been able to protect benefits for their members while employers have cut coverage and increased cost-shifting for nonunion employees to offset higher health care costs.

The huge differential in benefit costs for union workers means that already high levels of employer hostility to unionization will only intensify. With the Bush administration's anti-union National Labor Relations Board now entrenched, organizing through Board elections in 2005 will be exceptionally difficult.

The 2004 BLS union membership data reveal the following trends:

Private Sector. Most of the decline in union membership occurred in the private sector, where the number of members dropped by 247,000. The unionization rate fell to 7.9 percent, down from 8.2 percent in 2003, 8.5 percent in 2002 and 10.9 percent ten years ago.

Public Sector. The portion of government workers who are union members dropped by 57,000 in 2004, to 36.4 percent, despite public sector job gains of 260,000. The 2004 rate was down from 37.2 percent in 2003 and 37.3 percent in 2002, and marked the fifth consecutive year of declining rates. In 2003, membership declines in federal and state government were largely offset by gains in local government, but in 2004, union membership in the local sector fell to 41.3 percent, down from 42.6 percent in 2003. The local government sector added 134,000 jobs in 2004. The unionization rate for state workers actually rose slightly, from 30.3 percent in 2003 to 30.7 percent in 2004, and state governments added 76,000 jobs. Federal employee unionization rates dropped by a full percentage point, from 30.9 percent in 2003 to 29.9 percent in 2004, and membership dropped by 19,000 despite 51,000 new federal jobs.

Manufacturing. Manufacturing lost 376,000 jobs in 2004 and the number of union members in manufacturing fell by 137,000. The portion of manufacturing workers who are union members fell to 12.9 percent, down from 13.5 percent in 2003, with the sharpest losses in the durable goods industries.

Wholesale and Retail. The wholesale and retail trades added 411,000 jobs in 2004 but union membership dropped by 102,000. The unionization rate fell to 5.5 percent in 2004, erasing the gains made in 2003, when unionization rose to 6.2 percent from 5.9 percent in 2002.

Transportation and Utilities. This sector, the most highly unionized in private industry, shed 49,000 jobs but lost 76,000 union members in 2004. In 2003, the sector lost jobs but increased union membership by 11,000. In 2004, the unionization rate fell to 24.9 percent, down from 26.2 percent in 2003.

Information Services. The information industry, which includes the heavily unionized telecommunications sector, shed 239,000 jobs last year, but only 15,000 union members. The unionization rate rose to 14.2 percent, up from 13.6 percent in 2003.

Education and Health Services. Private educational and health services added 235,000 jobs in 2004 and the unionization rate rose to 8.3 percent, up from 8.0 percent in 2003. In 2002, union membership stood at 8.5 percent.

Hotels and Restaurants. Hotels shed 35,000 jobs and union membership slipped to 8.2 percent, down from 8.3 percent in 2003. In the much larger food services industry, employment increased by 71,000 jobs and union membership rose to 1.2 percent, up from 1.0 percent in 2003, restoring the 1.2 percent rate of 2002. Food services remains one of the largest virtually unorganized industries, with more than 7 million nonunion workers.

Financial Services. This sector added 130,000 jobs in 2004 but the already low unionization rate of 2.1 percent for 2003 slipped slightly to 2.0 percent for 2004, the same level as 2002.

Professional and Business Services. The unionization rate stood still at 2.3 percent in this large sector, which added 227,000 jobs but only 3,000 union members in 2004.

State Declines. Union membership rates remained unchanged in two states and fell in 32 states in 2004, with the largest declines in the industrial states. Rates rose in 16 states on the basis of some notable membership gains. Alabama added 34,000 union members on employment gains of 39,000; Arizona added 32,000 members on employment gains of 132,000; Louisiana added 20,000 with only 12,000 new jobs. New York added 60,000 union members with only a 27,000 net gain in jobs, and remained the most heavily unionized state.

Wage Differential. Median weekly earnings for full-time workers represented by unions rose 2.8 percent in 2004 to $776. Earnings for nonunion workers rose 2.2 percent to $599. The union wage differential rose from 25.7 percent in 2002 to 26.9 percent in 2003 and to 29.5 percent in 2004. The differential is rising rapidly as employers continue to cut wages for nonunion workers.

Four more years of Republican control over the federal government and many state governments will advance the increasingly anti-union stance of employers in the private sector and escalate the growing anti-union movement in the public sector. With no protection from the NLRB or from a federal judiciary that will fall more completely under the control of the White House, unions will have to rely on the determination of workers and broader public support to preserve union membership going forward.



February 4: National data updated January 25: State data updated http://jobwatch.org/ Inflation-adjusted wages fell in 2004 despite job growth The good news is that employment grew in 2004; the bad news is that the rate of wage growth fell.

The year 2004 was the first since 1999 that saw job growth in every single month, and it was also the first year since 2000 that the jobless rate declined. Yet the labor market remained relatively slack, and despite the reversal of job losses, there was little labor market pressure on employers to raise wages. Thus, as the chart below reveals, wages grew more slowly in 2004 than in the previous year.  In fact, the 2.1% growth rate for nominal hourly earnings in 2004 is the lowest in the history of this wage series, which began in 1964 (the series is for production, non-supervisory workers, the 80% of the workforce who are either blue-collar manufacturing workers or non-managers in services).

At the same time, inflation grew more quickly last year, accelerating from 2.3% in 2003 to 2.7% in 2004.  Clearly, faster price growth in 2004 was not the result of a tighter labor market creating wage pressures and consequently inflationary pressure.  Instead, prices grew more quickly due to the increased cost of commodities such as energy and health care.