Unions had Historically High Strikes and Historically Low Participation in 2023

From the UAW Strike to the Kaiser healthcare strike, 2023 was a historic year for unions. Despite their prominent position in the headlines, union membership as a percentage of the workforce hit a record low in 2023, sitting at only 10% according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual membership report.

When it comes to union membership rate, government work , sitting at 32.5%, was much higher than private sector members, which had only a 6.0% rate. The private sector rate remains the same as in 2022, but 6.0% is still the lowest historical private sector union membership rate. While unions were big in the media, their relative rates were dwindling.