Report: Face of Unions More Diverse

by James Parks, Nov 10, 2009

The face of the union movement has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. In 1983, more than half of all union workers were white men, few union workers had a college degree and nearly one-third were in manufacturing. Today, almost half are women, more than one-third have college degrees and only one in 10 work in manufacturing.

“The Changing Face of Labor, 1983-2008,” a new report released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), shows the union movement is more diverse than 25 years ago. The makeup of union members reflects similar shifts in the overall workforce. About half of union workers are in the public sector, while one of every 10 is in manufacturing; and the remaining four are in the private sector outside of manufacturing. Click here to read the report.

Says CEPR senior economist John Schmitt, one of the report’s authors:

The view that the typical union worker is a white male manufacturing worker may have been correct a quarter of a century ago, but it’s not an accurate description of those in today’s labor movement. The unionized workforce is changing with the country, The fastest growing groups in the overall economy are also the fastest growing groups in the labor movement.

The AFL-CIO’s new leadership team has made a priority of reaching out to the new faces of workers. Speaking at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity in Pittsburgh in September, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the federation’s commitment to diversity is on its way to becoming a reality:

I’m here to tell you that we must change. That is why we’re seeking out and encouraging young people, people of color, people of all backgrounds and beliefs and sexual orientation. These are the labor leaders of tomorrow.

Here are some of the CEPR study’s key findings:

• Women now make up more than 45 percent of unionized workers, up from just 35 percent in 1983. By 2020, women will be the majority of union workers.
• Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the union movement. In 2008, they represented 12.2 percent of the union workforce, up from 5.8 percent in 1983.
• Asian Americans make up 4.6 percent of the union workforce in 2008, an increase from 2.5 percent in 1989.
• African American workers are about 13 percent of the total unionized workforce, a share that has held fairly steady since 1983.
• More than one-third of union workers have a four-year college degree or more, up from only one-in-five in 1983. Nearly half of union women have at least a four-year college degree.
• Only about one-in-10 unionized workers is in manufacturing, down from almost 30 percent in 1983.
• Just under half (48.9 percent) of unionized workers are in the public sector, up from slightly more than one-third (34.4 percent) in 1983. Some 61 percent of unionized women are in the public sector.
• A little more than half (52 percent) of union members are professional and technical workers.
• The typical union worker is 45 years old, or about 7 years older than in 1983.
• More educated workers are more likely to be unionized than less educated workers, a reversal from 25 years ago.
• Immigrant workers make up 12.6 percent of union workers in 2008, up from 8.4 percent in 1994.

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