More Louisiana workers belonged to a union in 2015 than in the previous year, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Union members accounted for roughly 107,000, or 5.8%, of Louisiana’s wage and salary workers, up from the estimated 96,000, or 5.2%, in 2014, the bureau says.
In addition to the actual union members, another 19,000 non-union affiliated wage and salary workers were represented by unions on their jobs or were covered by an employee association or union contract, the bureau says.
Data estimates on union membership are collected through the Current Population Survey, conducted monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics from a national sample of 60,000 eligible households. The data is calculated from a quarter of the survey’s sample and is limited to wage and salary workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
Nationally, union membership remained steady at about 14.8 million, or 11.1%, with 1.6 million non-affiliated workers with jobs covered by a union contract. The bureau released the national statistics in January.
In that report, it was noted that, nationally, men—at 11.5%— had a slightly higher union membership rate than women, 10.6%, the bureau says.
Public sector workers had union membership rates more than five times that of private sector workers. Across the United States, public sector union membership was highest among teachers, police officers and firefighters.
According to the most recent data available, Louisianans have historically been less likely to join unions. The state is one of 30 with a union membership rate below the national average, according to the bureau.
“Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, Lousiana union membership rates have been below the U.S. average,” the bureau says in a news release.
The bureau says 20 states had higher rates than the national rate and nine states had rates above 15%.
Louisiana’s union membership rate peaked in 1993 at 9.4%. A low of 4.3% was reported in 2010 and 2013, the bureau says.
