Our annual Labor Day report on the state of unions in New York City, state and the U.S. is out. For the past few years, New York City was holding its own, maintaining union density and even growing slightly. That changed this past year, with the city seeing a sizable drop in membership – all in the private sector. Interestingly, density in the public sector rose slightly despite the Janus ruling. Indeed, the Janus ruling may have spurred the public sector unions to step up their organizing efforts to stay alive.
We also take a look at the changes in employment since the recession. We find that we’ve had strong job growth in New York in the past 10 years but the majority of growth is in sectors that pay less than a living wage.
Stephanie Luce 