Unionization rate dropped to new low in 2023

[Calista241]

Source: Axios

The share of American workers who are members of a union hit a new low in 2023 — it's now 1 in 10 — though the total number of unionized employees rose slightly.

Why it matters: Advocates say unions are a needed proponent of worker rights and compensation, while critics say unions throttle progress in the workplace.

Driving the news: 10% of the workforce was part of a union in 2023, down from 10.1% in 2022 and a high of 20.1% in 1983, the first year the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported comparable figures.

14.4 million workers were union members in 2023, up from 14.3 million in 2022 — but the percentage fell because the workforce grew at a faster rate than union membership.


Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/01/23/unions-big-labor-uaw-teamsters-strikes

[hadEnuf]

1. People just haven't been screwed hard enough yet.

That's how unions got so popular in the first place.

But rest-assured, the screwing will start again.

[Kennah]

2. Janus continued the descent, but a lot of workers just don't get it

I'm seeing drops all the time, and we spend our time trying to activate and engage people and educate them. But we're falling behind. I expect our work site, or at least our division, to decertify within the year. Then the REAL screwing will begin.

[BaronChocula]

3. Seems like good news if you drill down

It's not that the pace of unionizing is slowing. It's just more jobs are being created faster than people can unionize. They can still join in time.