WBBM NEWSRADIO — Union participation in Illinois dropped to its lowest level in a decade in 2023, according to a new report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute IEPI and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The State of the Unions 2024 report found that this decline in union membership mirrors a national trend. Researchers say one reason for this is that overall job growth outpaced the growth of union membership.
Even with the decline, Illinois still had a higher rate of unionized workers than the national average. In 2023, nearly 13% of the state’s workforce was unionized, placing Illinois 13th in the nation for union membership rates.
The report also pointed to other reasons for the decline, such as a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on unions and the fact that many new jobs were in industries with fewer unionized workers.
However, there was some good news for labor advocates: In 2023, there were 86 successful union petitions in Illinois, up from 67 in 2022.