Falls Union membership in Massachusetts
Union membership in Massachusetts has fallen sharply at a time when union ranks are growing nationally.
Released Federal data today show the figure of union members fell 8 % last year, or by 35,000. The total state now stands at 379,000 employees.
Nationally, the position of union members rises by 311,000 last year, to 15.7 million. That’s 12 % of all employees, compared with 13.2 % in Massachusetts. The state has the country’s 12th-highest membership union rate.
Massachusetts’ total union membership is the smallest since the government began collecting such records in 1989. Membership peaked in 1990, when almost 18 % of staffs in the state were union groups.