US unions flexed their muscles last year, but membership rates failed to grow

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

Unions commanded big headlines last year, but that didn’t translate into higher membership numbers, according to government data released Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said 10% of hourly and salaried workers were members of unions in 2023, or around 14.4 million people. That showed little movement from 2022, when 10.1% of workers were union members. The number of unionized workers in the private sector increased by 191,000 last year. That includes workers at auto companies, Las Vegas hotels and Hollywood studios, all of whom went through high-profile contract negotiations. But the number of unionized employees in the public sector, like teachers and police, was unchanged.