Union Membership Continues to Decline

U.S. labor unions are losing members faster than they can recruit new ones as membership declined by 280,000 employees in 2002 to 16.1 million, the Labor Department said.

Last year 13.2% of U.S. workers belonged to a union, a decline from 13.4% in 2001 and 20.1% in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.