The federal unions seem to be going stronger with time, a report revealed by Bureau of Labor Statistics has revealed. The report also stated that the unions of the private sector are far less organized as the number of private sector employees who are part of a union is very low. The number of unionized employees at the local and state levels is more when compared to the unionized federal employees.
Federal Employees Union Now Has a Record Membership
The report exposed the fact that the number of federal workers who have a membership of the civil services unions touched a record in 2015. The margin of this increase is highest when compared to the last eight years. The membership saw an increase of about 40,000 in the last year itself.
The Percentage Drop
Through the membership is increasing steadily, the percentage of employees being a part of the unions have reduced a lot. In 2015, the percentage of employees who were members of any union came down to 27.3 percent. It was 27.5 percent in 2014.
The drop in percentage is due to the fact that the government’s workforce is growing at an accelerated pace. The number of federal employees was 3.41 million in 2014. It rose to 3.59 million in the year 2015.
Comparison with Private Sector
The data also divulged that the federal workers are four times more likely to join a union when compared to the private sector employees. It is a fact that only 6.7 percent of private sector employees were part of a union in 2015. The number was a modest improvement over the 6.6 percent of unionized private sector employees in 2014.
Employee Union Coverage
It is also a fact that there are about 32.5 percent of federal workers whose jobs are covered by the unions. The percentage was calculated in 2015 as well. In 2014, the percentage of these employees who were represented by a union was 31.6 only.
All Unionized Workers
The data also states that nearly half of the workers who are unionized in the US belong to federal, state or the local government. The exact number is 48.9 percent.
State and Local Workers Better Unionized
The final worthy point shared in the report was that the federal employees lag behind in unionizing themselves when compared to the local or state level government workers. In 2015, over 40 percent of local government employees were part of a union and over 30 percent of state government employees were unionized.
