For Unions, Membership Gap Tells Tale of Legislative Failures

The persistent gap between public- and private-sector union membership revealed by new federal data hardened organized labor’s resolve to push through changes to U.S. labor law before the midterm elections.

The overall rate of union membership in the workforce sunk to 10.3% last year, annual data released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday showed—about half of what it was in 1983 when the U.S. had nearly 18 million union workers. The final tally from 2021 offered a sobering counterpoint to unions’ strike-fueled victory lap last year.

The results were especially grim in the private sector, where union density was ...