Acting US Secretary of Labor Julie Su issues statement on annual union membership data

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement in response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics release of its annual Union Membership data:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase in union membership, with 139,000 more union members in 2023 than in 2022, meaning this country has 400,000 more union workers than we had in 2021. The gains under the Biden-Harris administration underscore President Biden’s commitment to being the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history. 

“We have seen large private sector increases in unionization among health care workers, transportation and warehousing workers, and in educational services. These are workers who recognize that they have power and are organizing to use that power. Workers in health care, auto manufacturing, transportation, entertainment and more have delivered big wins at the bargaining table in the past year.

“It is also important to acknowledge that public support for unions is the highest we have seen since the 1960s. More than two thirds of wage and salary workers say they would consider joining a union.

“The President always says that unions built the middle class – and he is right. And it will take unions to re-build the middle class. These increases in union membership are a sign that we are moving in the right direction.  
 
“We know there is a tremendous amount of work still to be done. Unions have been under attack for decades, with unionbusting laws being passed in states across the country.  But multiple states in recent years have rolled back some of these so-called ‘right-to-work' laws, recognizing the damage they can do to worker organizing. We also know that current federal law allows unionbusting to stifle workers exercising their rights, which is why the Biden-Harris administration continues to support passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

“Our message to America’s workers is simple: we hear you, and we have your back.”