Virginia union membership drops
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Union membership dropped in Virginia last year, per recently released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The big picture: In 2022, 10.1% of U.S. workers were unionized, down from 10.3% in 2021 and a high of 20.1% in 1983, the first year the BLS reported comparable figures, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.
Zoom in: The share of Virginia workers represented by a union dropped by two percentage points last year, from 6.5% to 4.5%.
- Total union membership in the state also declined, from 176,000 in 2021 to 146,000 in 2022.
Yes, but: 2022 was still a big year for the local labor movement. City of Richmond workers won the right to unionize, and the Richmond Public Schools’ teachers union, which voted to unionize in 2021, approved its first contract.
The bottom line: Local workers formed unions last year, but it wasn't enough to counter the overall downward trend.