This morning the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released new figures for union membership rates in 2010. Their figures show that union membership continued its downward trend as the number of union members dropped to 14.7 million, down from 15.3 million in 2009. The overall “rate” of unionization also declined as only 11.9 percent of all workers were members of a labor union in 2010.

Last year’s figures showed that for the first time more union members were employed by government in the public sector than by private sector employers. This dynamic continued in 2010 as 52 percent of all union members were public sector employees.

So what does this mean?

• It’s clear that fewer and fewer American workers feel the need to join labor unions. These figures help to explain why labor leaders have been so adamant in their efforts to change U.S. labor law in order to give union organizers greater influence. In previous years these efforts were marked by union support for legislation like “card check” but union leaders and their allies in Washington are now more focused on using executive branch actions like regulations and NLRB cases to change the rules.
• In recent years, we’ve seen Big Labor turn increasingly leftward, promoting a “progressive” political and social agenda that has little do with jobs creation and economic growth. By and large, that’s a result of the public sector unions and their leadership trained in government and politics, not on the factory floor. The continuing rise in public sector unions means that fewer union leaders will be engaged with the private sector (manufacturing) economy, which ultimately pays for all the government union jobs. Union leaders have been seeking numerous opportunities to expand the size of government – which would ultimately lead to more public sector employees, which in turn would boost union members.

Policymakers should focus their efforts on developing policies that enable employers to create jobs, rather than seeking ways to prop up union membership by changing U.S. labor laws.

BNA PLUS, BNA’s research division has performed further research into the status of union representation elections performed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The new data (subscription needed) report that the percentage of elections that are won by labor unions continues to increase to 68.5 percent in 2009 which is up from 66.9 percent in 2008. This data also show that while the labor union “win rate” has increased, the overall amount of elections that have been won by labor unions has decreased by 17 percent.

So what does this mean?

It means that when labor union organizers engage in union elections they win more than two-thirds of the time. However, this information also shows that employees are finding it increasingly unnecessary to request that a third party, a labor union, represent them with their employers. The trends are clear; union membership in the private sector is dwindling, and the number of elections is decreasing, but when elections do take place the labor unions overwhelming win. So in essence, the representation process is clearly functioning in the way that our labor law system was designed to: Those who wish to be represented by a union are able to do so.

This news will irk labor leaders because it pokes holes in their argument for the jobs-killing Employee Free Choice Act. Under the EFCA, these National Labor Relations Board-supervised elections would be effectively eliminated as unions attempt to bring their current 68.5 percent win-rate number closer to 100 percent. Policy makers should pay close attention to these facts and figures before enacting major changes to both our labor laws and our labor system.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that the percentage of employees belonging to unions rose from 12.1 to 12.4 percent of the workforce from 2007 to 2008. (BLS news release.) Government employees are nearly five times more likely to belong to a union than private-sector employees.

The union membership rate for public sector workers (36.8 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private industry workers (7.6 percent).  Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate, 42.2 percent.  This group includes many workers in several heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers,  police officers, and fire fighters.  Private sector industries with high unionization rates include transportation and utilities (22.2 percent), telecommunications (19.3 percent), and construction (15.6 percent).  In 2008, unionization rates were relatively low in financial activities (1.8 percent) and professional and business services (2.1 percent). 

Washington Post story, “American Union Ranks Grow After ‘Bottoming Out”:

To business groups opposing card check, that jump indicates that the government doesn’t need to make it easier to form unions.

“These statistics show that union membership is growing — and that the system works,” said Keith Smith, director of employment and labor policy at the National Association of Manufacturers.

“Organized labor is running ads claiming that current labor laws prevent them from signing up new members. Too bad the facts aren’t cooperating,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief legal officer Steven Law blogged yesterday.

Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today show that union membership increased by 428,000 to 16.1 million in 2008. While union membership accounted for 12.4 percent of the national workforce, only 7.6 percent of private sector employees are members of a labor union.

These new figures, coupled with data released by the National Labor Relations Board in November, make the clear case that the current system for joining a labor union works. Union membership is on the rise and labor unions currently win more than two-thirds of organizing union representation elections. At what point will labor leaders be satisfied?

Meanwhile, polling data released Monday highlights that the vast majority of union members (74 percent nationwide) wish to retain their right to a secret ballot – a right destroyed by the Employee Free Choice Act. Today’s BLS report confirms that through secret ballots and a free flow of information, workers are able to form a union, if they freely to choose it. It’s those freedoms that are at risk if organized labor forces through its No. 1 political priority, which would more accurately be called, the Employee FORCED Choice Act.