Union membership in the United States fell slightly between 2010 and 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has found.
In 2010, 11.9 percent of the workforce belonged to a union. In 2011, the number fell to 11.8 percent.
The bureau also found that the rate of union membership among public-sector employees stood at 37 percent in 2011—many times higher than the private sector rate of 6.9 percent. Among occupations, teachers and librarians had the highest rate of unionization.
The BLS figures arrive at a time when the country is engaged in a bitter debate over the compensation and benefits paid to public sector workers. Despite millions of dollars spent in recruitment drives and in partisan politics, unions have failed to increase their membership in appreciable numbers.
Meanwhile, states like Wisconsin and New Jersey have passed laws requiring public sector workers to contribute more to their health care and benefit packages. Democratic governors in New York and California have proposed similar changes. Indiana is poised to become a right-to-work state Wednesday.
In 1980, union members made up 20 percent of the private sector labor force.