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The tapestry of Pennsylvania as a strong union state is getting a little threadbare. The state has slipped from fifth for the percentage of workers covered by unions in 1983 to 14th in 2011.
While the state still ranks fourth for total union membership, the percentage of workers in unions has declined by 15.3 percent in the time since the 1980s recession.
In 2011, just 15.8 percent of the state's workforce was covered by a union and a smaller number of workers -- 14.5 percent or 778,577 workers -- were actually dues-paying members, according to statistics compiled in the Union Membership and Coverage Database at unionstats.com, a website constructed by Barry Hirsch of Georgia State University and David Macpherson of Trinity University.
New York ranked first in the percentage of workers covered by unions in 1983 and, despite a nearly 10 percent decline, still ranked first in 2011.
"New York is just a really strong union state," said Mark Price, a labor economist from the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg.
Last year, more than a quarter of New York's workers were covered by union contracts, down from 36 percent in 1983. The state has 2 million workers represented by unions.
The top 15 states for unions include the New England states of Connecticut (ninth), Rhode Island (eighth) and Massachusetts (15th). With New York, New Jersey (11th) and Pennsylvania fill out the Northeast.
California, with nearly 2.4 million union members, ranked sixth for the percentage of workers covered by unions (18.2 percent).
In the Midwest, Michigan is still one of the stronger union states, ranking fifth for the percentage of workers covered, though that number declined from 32.8 percent of the workforce in 1983 to 18.3 percent in 2011.
Its neighbor state, Indiana, fell from 11th to 26th; Ohio fell from eighth to 17th; and Wisconsin fell from 12th to 19th, showing a weakening of unions in the Midwest.
Illinois still has 17.2 percent of its workforce covered by a union, down from 27.4 percent but still enough to hold on the same 10th place ranking it had in 1983.
Nationwide, union participation is declining. In the last several decades it has even declined more in states such as Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, New Jersey and Ohio, especially in the manufacturing sector, Mr. Price said. "In general since the early '80s, employers have become increasingly hostile to union organizing and that is certainly a big factor in the decline in union density."
Other states with the highest union percentages include Alaska, which was second, Hawaii (third) and Washington (fourth).
Ann Belser: abelser@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699.
