Above Photo: Rich Pickering, at right, sports a handmade sign as hundreds of workers rally against Proposition A at the Laborers Local 42 union hall Saturday, June 23, 2018. Many who attended the rally later canvassed area neighborhoods to educate voters on the right to work legislation and the upcoming veto referendum, which will take place on August 7. Photo by Ryan Michalesko, rmichalesko@post-dispatch.com
The defeat of a right-to-work law in 2018 seems to have given Missouri’s unions a boost. Their membership grew by 46,000 last year, bucking a downward national trend.
The increase boosted the state’s union membership to 297,000 people, the highest number since 2004. Union members now make up 11.1% of the state’s workforce, the highest percentage since 2008.
UNION MEMBERSHIP RATE
In Illinois, union membership fell by 15,000 last year, reducing the unionization rate from 13.8% to 13.6%.
Nationally, just 6.2% of private-sector workers were union members, compared with 33.6% in the public sector. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average union member earned $1,095 a week last year, compared with $892 for non-union workers.