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Union Membership in
Rhode Island |
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| According to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 15.0 percent (75,000) of private
and public sector workers throughout Rhode Island were union members in
2007. This represented an over-the-year decline of 0.3 percentage
points, or 1,000 workers. Regionally, the Ocean State had the second
highest union membership rate, trailing only Connecticut (15.6%). No New
England state experienced an increase in their union membership rates
between 2006 and 2007. Massachusetts posted the greatest decline (-1.3
points), followed by Vermont (-0.6 points), and New Hampshire (-0.4
points). Connecticut’s rate was unchanged over the year.
Among the fifty states, Rhode Island reported the twelfth highest union membership rate, trailing New York (25.2%), Alaska (23.8%), Hawaii (23.4%), Washington (20.2%), Michigan (19.5%), New Jersey (19.2%), California (16.7%), Minnesota (16.3%), Connecticut (15.6%), Nevada (15.4%), and Pennsylvania (15.1%). Nationally, the union membership rate was 12.1 percent, up from 12.0 percent one year earlier but well below the 20.1 percent measured in 1983.* |
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Over the year, the percentage of wage and salary workers represented by unions in the Ocean State declined, falling from 16.0 percent in 2006 to 15.8 percent in 2007. Throughout the country, 13.3 percent of public and private sector workers were represented by unions in 2007. |
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* 1983 is the first year for which comparable union data
are available. Data included within this report is derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union membership data refers to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union. Union representation data includes union members as well as workers who report no union affiliation, but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract. For more information on CPS data, please visit www.bls.gov/cps. |
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