Overall union membership levels have sunk well below the peak of 20.1% in 1983, the first year for which data was available. American labor unions have been in decline for decades as much manufacturing moved overseas or automated and as organizing grew more difficult in some parts of the nation.

That the continuing significant upturn in strike activity has led to zero growth in union membership is an indictment of the right wing character of the corporatist US trade unions.

The share of American workers in unions edged down in 2024, reaching its lowest level on record, even as the year was marked by a surge in union election filings and several high-profile strikes. The union membership rate dropped by one-tenth of a percentage point to a new low of 9.