Labor Unions Under Neoliberalism: Part I

State Labor Union Density 2000 - 2024

Accessing the Data

I produced the below visualization using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (2015) Data Retrieval: Labor Force Statistics (CPS) page. After selecting “Table 5. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state,” hover over the “Members of Unions” column and click the “Select All” option under the sub-column “Percent of employed”. Before pressing the “Retrieve Data” button at the bottom of the web page, remove the tick marks from “Select All,” “United States,” and “District of Columbia.” Now that you have retrieved the data, change the output date from 2014-2024 to 2000-2024. You will see that the visualization’s numbers matches the table data from BLS as the years progress.

Map Visualization

Discussion

Labor union density is another way of saying union membership as a percentage of the labor force. The time-series map tracks union density from 2000-2024 across all 50 states. Dark red gradients signal lower densities while brighter yellow gradients mean higher densities. As the timeline moves forward, the US union density shrinks compared to what it was at the start of the millennium. The nation’s union strongholds are in the Pacific, Great Lakes, and the Mid-Atlantic states. In comparison, the Midwest and South have union densities below 10%.

The Great Lakes region tallied the most union losses with declines of 5% or more in the period. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa experienced the largest downturns, ranging from 7%-11%. On a positive note, New York and Hawaii were the only states able to keep their union densities above 20%. Since every region had one or more states face a decline, unions face political and economic hurdles beyond traditional right-to-work laws. Sherer and Gould (2024) from the Economic Policy Institute have a primer and visualizations of their own on state right-to-work laws.

Works Cited

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015, September 16). Table 5. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state. https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpslutab5.htm

Sherer, J., & Gould, E. (2024, February 13). Data show anti-union ‘right-to-work’ laws damage state economies: As Michigan’s repeal takes effect, New Hampshire should continue to reject ‘right-to-work’ legislation. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/blog/data-show-anti-union-right-to-work-laws-damage-state-economies-as-michigans-repeal-takes-effect-new-hampshire-should-continue-to-reject-right-to-work-legislation/