Union Membership Drops 2.7 Million

WASHINGTON — The wages of the nation’s union members are an estimated 33% higher than those of other workers, but there has been a decline of 2.7 million in union membership.

Those are among the key findings of new surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing that union membership fell from 23% of the work force in 1980 to 18.8% in 1984, the lowest level in recent years. Membership of non-agricultural workers reached a high of 35% in 1945.

The bureau said the number of union members dropped from 20.1 million to 17.4 million since 1980, a loss of 13%, and the civilian work force expanded almost 5%. Although membership was pegged at 17.4 million, union contracts covered 19.9 million workers.

The study documents the decline in union membership brought on by automation; massive layoffs in heavily unionized industries such as automobiles and steel; the increasing success of employers’ anti-union efforts, and the sharp growth in service industries that unions have had little success in organizing, labor experts say.