Massachusetts union membership is declining

The share of Massachusetts workers who are members of a union has fallen over the last decade, though not as drastically as the rest of the country.

Driving the news: 10% of the national workforce was part of a union in 2023, down from 10.1% in 2022 and a high of 20.1% in 1983, the first year the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported comparable figures.

• 14.4 million workers were union members in 2023, up from 14.3 million in 2022 — but the percentage fell because the workforce grew at a faster rate than union membership.

The big picture: The slight drop in the union membership rate came during a year of significant action for Big Labor, including:

• The UAW scoring record contracts from the General Motors, Ford and Stellantis after an unprecedented strike.
• The Teamsters winning concessions from UPS without a strike.
• Actors and writers unions getting new deals from Hollywood after bruising work stoppages.

Context: The drop also came despite approval of unions in 2022 reaching its highest point since 1965, according to Gallup.

Zoom in: 32.5% of public-sector workers were members of unions in 2023, compared with 6% of private workers.

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