Union Membership Levels Increased in 2023 as Private Sector Saw Gains
In 2023, 16.2 million U.S. workers were represented by a union—an increase of 191,000 from 2022, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today. Although more jobs were unionized, the share of workers represented by a union declined from 11.3% to 11.2% because unionization efforts were unable to keep pace with the strong job growth in the overall labor market. As a result of decades of attacks on the right to organize, the current unionization rate is well under half what it was roughly 45 years ago.
These statistics don’t capture the number of workers who want to join unions—surveys show that tens of millions of nonunionized workers wanted to join unions but couldn’t. However, these numbers do illustrate a broken system that continues to thwart workers’ ability to form unions and secure a contract. For instance, employer refusals to follow labor law have so far blocked workers at over 370 newly unionized Starbucks stores from reaching a first contract after two years of organizing.
"The steady number of union members in Ohio shows that workers continue to want and demand a union in the workplace despite the best efforts of corporations to thwart union organizing. Workers are fed up with stagnant wages and a lack of dignity and respect on the job, which is precisely why more are interested in joining a union now than ever before," said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga.