PROVIDENCE – The average number of union members in Rhode Island declined by 2,000 from 2019 to 2020 to 81,000, accounting for 17.8% of employed workers in the state, marking a 0.4 percentage-point increase from 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday.
The average number of employed workers in the state declined by 20,000 from 2019 to 2020 to 455,000, BLS said, reflecting a 4.2% employment decline overall, as opposed to the 2.4% union membership decline in that time. This compares with a 4.6% reduction in nonunion workers year over year, dropping by 18,000 to 374,000.
The BLS also said that there were an average of 87,000 individuals in the state represented by unions in Rhode Island in 2020, a decline from 90,000 one year prior, reflecting 19.1% of employed individuals in the state. Data for individuals represented by unions refers to both union members and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract, according to BLS.
Nationally, union membership declined by 321,000 from 2019 to 2020 to 14.3 million, accounting for 10.8% of all workers. Workers represented by a union declined by 444,000 year over year to 15.9 million, accounting for 12.1% of workers. The BLS noted that in that time, wage and salary employment in the country declined by 9.6 million, mostly among nonunion workers. This resulted in the share of union membership of all employed workers in the country to rise 0.5 percentage points year over year.
Rhode Island had the highest union membership rate as a percentage of employed individuals in New England. Hawaii had the highest union membership as a share of employed workers in the country in 2020 at 23.7%, followed by New York at 22%.
New England union membership figures in 2020:
- Connecticut: 262,000 union members, accounting for 17.1% of workers.
- Maine: 82,000 union members, accounting for 14.7% of workers.
- Massachusetts: 357,000, accounting for 12% of workers.
- Vermont: 31,000 union members, accounting for 11.8% of workers.
- New Hampshire: 62,000 union members, accounting for 9.8% of workers.
