Union Numbers Up in Pennsylvania for First Time Since 2001

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022808LB.shtml

Philadelphia Business Journal

Wednesday 27 February 2008

Both the number of union members and the percentage of workers represented by unions grew last year in Pennsylvania, something that hasn't happened since 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

Union membership climbed by 85,000 to 830,000 last year in Pennsylvania, with union members accounting for 15.1 percent of wage and salary workers in the state, compared to 13.6 percent in 2006. An additional 80,000 workers in the state were represented by a union on their main job, but were not union members themselves, up from 57,000 in 2006.

Union membership declined in New Jersey last year, dropping to 19.2 percent of all wage and salary workers, compared to 20.1 percent in 2006.

Nationwide, union members accounted for 12.1 percent of wage and salary workers last year, compared to 12 percent in 2006.