Dive Brief:
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The percentage of construction workers who belong to unions dropped slightly last year, from 14.1% in 2013 to 13.9% in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual union membership report.
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Still, the number of union members in the industry increased by 53,000 as construction employment expanded over the year. The two numbers indicate, however, that union membership is not growing at the same pace as the industry’s wage-and-salary work force, according to an analysis of the data by Associated Builders and Contractors, an anti-union trade association.
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Across the private sector, union membership dipped by 0.2% in 2014, BLS said. The industries with the most union members are utilities (22.3%); transportation and warehousing (19.6%); telecommunications (14.8%); and construction.
Dive Insight:
Union membership among construction workers has declined steadily since 1947, when 87% of the industry’s work force belonged to unions, the ABC analysis noted. It reached its all-time low in 2010, when 13.1% of the construction work force belonged to unions.