Wisconsin saw an increase in the number of workers who are members of a union in 2023, according to annual data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In total, 205,000 workers are union members in the state, according to the BLS data, up from 187,000 in 2022. The increase of 9.6% was the
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Wisconsin union membership and representation as a percentage of total number of people employed in the state. Source; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics[/caption]
Nationally, the total number of union members grew from 14.29 million to 14.42 million. As a percentage of all workers, membership decreased from 10.1% to 10%.
Seven states saw a more than 1 percentage point increase in their rate of union membership across all workers. Hawaii and Vermont led the list with increases of 2.2 points each. Connecticut, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Jersey and Nevada also topped 1 point.
Another seven states saw decreases of more than 1 percentage point, led by Rhode Island, which was down 3.8 points. Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Michigan all saw decreases of 1 to 1.5 points.
Among other nearby states, Indiana saw a 0.6 point increase and Iowa was up 0.2 points. Illinois was down 0.3 points, Minnesota was down 0.9 and Michigan decreased 1.2 points.
Nationally, industries seeing the strongest gains in union membership included wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, and telecommunications.
Industries with declines in union membership included motion pictures and sound recording, mining and quarrying, agriculture, broadcasting, publishing and construction.