While national unionization rates have continued their relentless decline, union membership in L.A. and California held steady over the past decade and even increased in some years, according to a forthcoming study by UCLA's Institute of Industrial Relations.

Moreover, women, immigrants and young people were more likely to be unionized in Los Angeles and in California than in the U.S. as a whole, states "Union Membership in 2005: Data on Los Angeles, California and the United States."

"In the context of a national labor movement that is struggling, Los Angeles is a beacon of hope," said Ruth Milkman, a UCLA professor of sociology and the study's lead author. "This is one of the few regions of the country where unions are doing well."

Milkman and UCLA sociology graduate student Bongoh Kye analyzed U.S. Current Population Survey data on union membership for California, Los Angeles and the nation. Their report analyzes unionization rates by race, nationality, gender, age, education and earnings. The report offers a detailed analysis of the state of unionism in 2005, the last complete year for which data are available.

While U.S. unionization rates dropped from 14.5 percent in 1996 to 12.5% in 2005, California's unionization rates were almost unchanged, at 16.9 percent in 1996 and 16.5 percent in 2005. In Los Angeles the rate rose slightly, from 15.4 percent to 15.5 percent over the same period.

"A century ago, L.A. was famous for its anti-unionism," said Milkman, who is also the author of a new book, "L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement," published by the Russell Sage Foundation. "But today it's just the opposite. Those who boasted that Los Angeles was 'the citadel of the open shop' in the early 20th century must be turning over in their graves."

Social scientists consider unionization rates an important indicator of how well workers are faring, since unionized workers typically enjoy higher earnings and superior benefits relative to their nonunion counterparts.

Unionization rates are much higher in the public sector than in the private sector. In 2005, well over half of all public sector workers in California belonged to a union. Although the public-sector unionization rate for the nation was considerably lower at 36.5 percent, it still dramatically outpaced the nation's private-sector unionization rate of 7.8 percent.

"The main reason for unions' greater presence in the public sector is that unions face far less employer opposition there," Milkman said. "By contrast, private sector firms devote extensive resources to resisting unions."

Across California, unionization rates vary. With a 20.6 percent unionization rate, Sacramento led the state in union membership last year. San Francisco was a close second at 16.6 percent, followed by Los Angeles. Of the state's major metropolitan areas with populations over 1 million, San Diego had the lowest overall unionization rate (14.6 percent) and Fresno had the second lowest (15.3 percent).

Across the nation, older workers are much more likely to be unionized than younger ones who are just beginning their careers. While Los Angeles and California unionization rates among 16- to 24-year-olds were low (6.7 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively), they nonetheless outpaced the national average (4.6 percent).

Women also have higher rates of union representation in both Los Angeles and California. While male unionization rates surpass female unionization rates nationally, they are almost identical locally and statewide.

African Americans have higher unionization rates than any other racial or ethnic group, with more than one-quarter of those in Los Angeles unionized in 2005, 22.6 percent statewide and 15.1 percent nationwide. White, Asian and Latino workers followed.

"African Americans have the highest unionization rate because they are disproportionately concentrated in public sector employment," Milkman explained. "They benefit from being employed in such a highly unionized part of the labor market."

For immigrants, the opposite is true. Because so few immigrants are employed in public-sector jobs, the UCLA researchers found that they were significantly less likely to be unionized than U.S.-born workers, even in Los Angeles.

But there are important differences within the immigrant population. Foreign-born workers who have become naturalized citizens have unionization rates higher than or comparable to those of U.S.-born workers. Immigrants who have been in the U.S. the longest - those who arrived before 1990 - also have high unionization rates, the team found.
"Recent immigrant organizing successes have attracted a lot of public attention," Milkman said. "But those gains have a limited impact on overall unionization rates, because immigrants remain underrepresented in the highly unionized public sector."

The face of unionization is also changing in other ways. Today, the more education workers have, the higher their unionization rate, the UCLA team found. In Los Angeles, more than one-fifth of college graduates are unionized, as were 14.5 percent nationwide. Among workers who did not graduate from high school, unionization rates were only 7.2 percent both locally and across the nation.

"Whereas decades ago the archetypal union member was a male blue-collar worker, today female professionals are much more likely than anyone else to be unionized, especially in sectors like educational services and public administration," Milkman said.

For a complete copy of the study, go to http://www.iir.ucla.edu/report.html.

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