Trends can be important. Notwithstanding powerful political support for organized labor from the Obama Administration, the recent trend of American workers to not join unions is continuing.
Every two years, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, known as “AFL-CIO”, discloses the numbers of dues-paying members of its constituent national and international affiliates in the United States. The table below contains the just-released data from 2012-13 and includes some interesting historical data (expressed in thousands).
|
PERIOD
|
MEMBERSHIP
|
PERIOD
|
MEMBERSHIP
|
|
1955
|
12,622
|
1980-81
|
13,602
|
|
1956-57
|
13,020
|
1982-83
|
13,758
|
|
1958-59
|
12,779
|
1984-85
|
13,109
|
|
1960-61
|
12,553
|
1986-87
|
12,702
|
|
1962-63
|
12,496
|
1988-89
|
13,556
|
|
1964-65
|
12,919
|
1990-91
|
13,933
|
|
1966-67
|
13,781
|
1992-93
|
13,299
|
|
1968-69
|
13,005
|
1994-95
|
13,007
|
|
1970-71
|
13,177
|
1996-97
|
12,905
|
|
1972-73
|
13,407
|
1998-99
|
12,952
|
|
1974-75
|
14,070
|
2000-01
|
13,164
|
|
1976-77
|
13,542
|
2004-05
|
12,976
|
|
1978-79
|
13,621
|
2008-09
|
8,374
|
|
|
|
2012-13
|
8,429
|
Overall, union membership in the United States over the past two years was fairly flat. The relatively small overall membership increase between 2012 and 2013 was due in part to the return of some unions that had disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO. Several large unions suffered significant decreases in membership, notably the Communication Workers, the Electrical Workers and the UAW. Significant membership increases were reported, however, for the American Federation of Government Employees and UNITE HERE.
