• Posted: May 29, 2019
• IBEW Local 134

Since 2008, unionization has declined in Illinois, in the Chicago region, and in the United States. There are approximately 111,000 fewer union members in Illinois today than there were in 2008, contributing to the 1.3 million-member drop in union workers across the nation over that time. Declining union membership in Illinois has primarily been the result of decreases in male unionization.

Consequently, the total number of labor unions and similar labor organizations has declined over the past decade. There are now 877 labor unions and similar organizations in Illinois, a decline of over 80 worker establishments over the past ten years. There are also nearly 1,700f ewer officers and staff working for labor unions and similar organizations today than one decade ago.

However, on the positive side, Illinois’ labor movement posted new gains last year.

From 2016 to 2017:

•The unionization rate increased from 14.5 percent to 15.0 percent;

•Union members increased from about 812,000 to about 828,000;

•Millennial workers between the ages of 25 and 34 saw an increase in union membership;

•Unionization increased in the Chicago metropolitan area by about 19,000 members.Half of all public sector workers continue to be unionized in both Illinois (50.9 percent) and the Chicago metropolitan area (52.4 percent).

Meanwhile, slightly more than one-third of all public sector workers are unionized across the nation (34.4 percent). In comparison, fewer than one-in-ten (9.8 percent)workers in Illinois’ private sector are now union members, though this exceeds the 6.5 percent unionization rate for private sector workers across the United States.

Read the full report here.