The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark reminder that working people keep Illinois’ economy functioning. The workers propping up the economy were largely hourly employees who are protected most by union representation. As Illinois recovers from unprecedented job losses, the labor movement will be essential in protecting and rebuilding the state’s middle class. As Illinois […]
Chicago: On Labor Day 2019, researchers from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of California, Irvine released the sixth annual State of the Unions report for Illinois. The study finds that unions play an important role in Illinois’ economy communities, despite declining union membership over the past decade. Since […]
Union membership is influenced by a number of factors. Employment in the public sector, construction, transportation and utilities, mining, educational and health services, and public administration industries all raise the chances that a given worker is a union member. African American workers are also statistically more likely to be union members than their racial or […]
Unions play a vital role in Minnesota’s economy and communities. The Minnesota labor movement, however, will continue to face both short- and long-term challenges due to the political environment, the makeup of the United States Supreme Court, and broader economic trends. Labor’s response to these challenges will define its influence and effectiveness in the decades […]
Since 2007, unionization has declined in Illinois, in the Chicago region, and in America. There are approximately 30,000 fewer union members in Illinois today than there were in 2007, contributing to the 1.1 million-member drop in union workers across the nation over that time. Declining union membership in Illinois has primarily been the result of […]
This report, conducted by researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, the University of Illinois Project for Middle Class Renewal, and Occidental College, analyzes the course of unionization in Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan statistical area (MSA), and in the United States from 2006 to 2015. It is the third annual report of its kind […]
Since 2005, unionization has declined in Illinois, in the Chicago region, and in America. There areapproximately 97,000 fewer union members in Illinois today than there were in 2005, contributing to the 1.12 million drop in union workers across the nation over that time. Declining union membership has primarily been the result of decreases in male […]
Since 2003, unionization has declined in Illinois, in the Chicago region, and in America. There areapproximately 116,000 fewer union members in Illinois today than there were in 2003, contributing to the 1.26 million drop in union workers across the nation over that time. Declining union membership has primarily been the result of decreases in male […]