Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment Among
Private Sector Workers, 1973-2012
Year	Obs	Employment	Members	Covered	%Mem	%Cov
1973	40,245	61,886.5	14,954.1	--	24.2	--
1974	39,422	62,947.5	14,703.8	--	23.4	--
1975	37,609	61,206.2	13,176.8	--	21.5	--
1976	38,669	63,848.0	13,613.5	--	21.3	--
1977	46,052	66,086.4	14,340.5	15,423.5	21.7	23.3
1978	46,470	69,566.3	14,424.7	15,663.1	20.7	22.5
1979	47,018	71,273.1	15,118.0	16,529.5	21.2	23.2
1980	55,246	71,440.7	14,331.6	15,525.7	20.1	21.7
1981	12,637	74,435.5	13,944.4	15,166.6	18.7	20.4
1982	--	--	--	--	--	--
1983	141,311	72,655.7	11,980.2	13,419.9	16.5	18.5
1984	145,104	76,361.4	11,684.0	12,985.6	15.3	17.0
1985	148,185	78,449.2	11,253.0	12,437.5	14.3	15.9
1986	147,678	80,512.0	11,084.7	12,203.9	13.8	15.2
1987	148,698	82,438.4	10,857.3	11,885.2	13.2	14.4
1988	142,409	84,216.8	10,702.4	11,756.3	12.7	14.0
1989	145,372	85,988.9	10,536.2	11,583.1	12.3	13.5
1990	152,197	86,122.5	10,254.8	11,366.4	11.9	13.2
1991	147,112	84,792.8	9,936.5	10,937.8	11.7	12.9
1992	144,911	85,525.4	9,737.2	10,699.5	11.4	12.5
1993	142,859	86,437.9	9,580.3	10,484.0	11.1	12.1
1994	140,651	89,648.6	9,649.4	10,650.6	10.8	11.9
1995	140,723	91,680.5	9,432.1	10,359.8	10.3	11.3
1996	126,229	93,749.9	9,415.0	10,328.4	10.0	11.0
1997	129,035	96,385.8	9,363.3	10,255.0	9.7	10.6
1998	131,129	98,328.9	9,306.1	10,103.6	9.5	10.3
1999	132,817	100,025.4	9,418.6	10,216.0	9.4	10.2
2000	134,554	101,809.9	9,147.7	9,968.5	9.0	9.8
2001	143,041	101,577.3	9,141.3	9,902.7	9.0	9.7
2002	152,871	100,581.4	8,651.5	9,369.7	8.6	9.3
2003	150,050	102,647.6	8,451.8	9,263.7	8.2	9.0
2004	147,496	103,583.6	8,204.5	8,956.2	7.9	8.6
2005	148,598	105,508.4	8,255.0	8,961.6	7.8	8.5
2006	148,602	107,845.6	7,981.3	8,687.7	7.4	8.1
2007	146,614	108,713.8	8,113.6	8,870.0	7.5	8.2
2008	144,506	108,072.6	8,265.2	9,084.4	7.6	8.4
2009	139,413	103,357.3	7,430.8	8,226.1	7.2	8.0
2010	137,980	103,040.4	7,091.9	7,883.6	6.9	7.7
2011	137,410	104,778.4	7,204.5	7,971.9	6.9	7.6
2012	137,861	107,230.2	7,029.9	7.844.3	6.6	7.3
Data sources: For the years 1973-81 the May Current Population (CPS). For the years
1983-2012 the CPS Outgoing Rotation Group (ORG) Earnings Files.  There were no
union questions in the 1982 CPS.  Sample includes wage and salary workers, ages
16 and over.  Variable definitions are: Obs=CPS sample size; Employment=wage and
salary employment in thousands, Members=employed workers who are union members
in thousands, Covered=workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement in
thousands, %Mem=percent of employed workers who are union members, and
%Cov=percent of employed workers who are covered by a collective bargaining
agreement. The definition of union membership was expanded in 1977 to include
"employee associations similar to a union".
© 2013 by Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson.  The use of data requires citation.