Some Say Union Revival Could Address Retirement Insecurity Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. now has the fifth lowest trade union density of the 36 member nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Even the most cursory internet search will uncover an array of surveys and studies, conducted by all manner of stakeholders, underlining the substantial decline in U.S. union membership seen over the past several decades. As data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows, last year, 10.8% of workers in the United States reported being a union member, compared with 20.1% in 1983. That’s up 0.5 percentage point from 2019’s numbers, but still far lower than in the past. The data shows a strong regional concentration of union membership, as well, with more than half of all U.S. union members living in either California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio or Michigan.