Union members at the Capitol. (File photo: Jackie Johnson)
The number of Wisconsin workers who belonged to a union continued to decline last year.
Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show just 223,000 workers were part of the organized labor force in 2015, compared to about 306,000 the year before. The percentage of the workforce that belonged to a union also dropped from 12 percent in 2014 to 8.3 percent last year.
Union membership has been on a continuous decline since Governor Scott Walker virtually eliminated collective bargaining for public employees in 2011.
While Wisconsin did become a right-to-work state early on in 2014, the impact of that move on union membership may not be seen for a few years. That’s because many private sector unions still have contracts in place, many of which will remain in effect for the next few years.