Introduction
For much of the postwar period, a higher share of African-American workers
have been in unions than workers from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
As union representation and union coverage have declined for the country
as a whole, unionization rates for African-Americans have fallen more
quickly than for the rest of the workforce. Black workers are still about
30 percent more likely than the rest of the workforce to be in a union
today, but as recently as the mid-1980s, black workers were almost 50
percent more likely to be in a union or covered by a union at their workplace.
Part of the reason for the decline in unionization rates among African-Americans
is undoubtedly related to the decline of U.S. manufacturing. For example,
since the 1960s, African-Americans were more likely to work in the heavily
unionized automotive sector than white or Latino workers. As these sectors
have declined in relative importance, unionization rates for blacks have
also dropped. The overall decline in manufacturing, however, is only part
of the problem. First, since the early 1990s, the share of black workers
in manufacturing has been falling more rapidly than the manufacturing
share for the workforce as a whole. From the end of the 1970s through
the early 1990s, African-Americans were just as likely as workers from
other racial and ethnic groups to have manufacturing jobs. Since the early
1990s, however, black workers have lost considerable ground in manufacturing.
By 2006, blacks were about 15 percent less likely than other workers to
have a job in manufacturing. Second, even within manufacturing, unionization
rates have been on the decline, to the point where manufacturing workers
now are no more likely to be in a union than workers in the rest of the
economy (see Schmitt and Zipperer, 2007a). Meanwhile, over the last 25
years, unionization rates have held steady in the public sector, which
suggests that employer opposition to unions, not simply economic restructuring,
lies behind the decline in overall unionization rates (see Schmitt and
Zipperer, 2007b).
Findings
Our analysis of data from the Current Population Survey, the government's
most important regular source of data on the labor market, also finds:
- Between 1983 and 2006, the share of African-American workers who
were either members of a union or represented by a union at their place
of employment fell substantially, from 31.7 percent of all black workers
in 1983 to 16.0 percent in 2006. In 2006, African-Americans were still
more likely to be in a union (16.0 percent) than whites (13.3) and Hispanics
(10.7 percent). Nevertheless, the decline in union membership for black
workers between 1983 and 2006 was sharper for blacks (down 15.7 percentage
points) than it was for whites (down 8.9 percentage points) or Hispanics
(down 13.5 percentage points). (See Table
1.)
- The share of African-Americans working in manufacturing declined
from 23.9 percent in 1979 to 10.1 percent in 2006. Whites saw slightly
smaller declines (from 23.5 percent to 11.9 percent), while Hispanics
experienced a bigger drop (from 30.2 percent to 12.6 percent). (See
Table
2.)
- Between 1979 and 2006, the share of workers in auto manufacturing
dropped for blacks, whites, and Hispanics. Blacks suffered the biggest
decline, a 0.8 percentage-point decline, from 2.1 percentage points
in 1979 to 1.3 percentage points in 2006, compared to a 0.3 percentage
point drop for whites and Hispanics. (See Table
3.)
- Throughout the entire 1983-2006 period, black workers have made up
13-15 percent of all union workers. Over the same period, the share
of whites in the total union workforce fell from 78.1 percent to 69.2
percent, while the share of Hispanics rose from 5.8 percent to 11.5
percent of all union workers. (See Table
4.)
- Throughout the entire period from 1979 to 2006, the share of African-American
workers in the total manufacturing workforce hovered around 10 percent.
Meanwhile, white workers fell from 82.7 percent of all manufacturing
workers in 1979 to 69.9 percent in 2006. Hispanics (and other workers)
significantly increased their representation in the manufacturing workforce
over the same period (up from 6.0 percent of manufacturing jobs in 1979
to 14.5 percent in 2006, for Hispanics). (See Table
5.)
- In 2006, blacks made up 14.1 percent of the auto manufacturing workforce;
whites were 73.3 percent; Hispanics, 7.6 percent. Between 1979 and 2006,
the share of blacks and whites in the total auto manufacturing workforce
both fell. The share of Hispanic and other workers, meanwhile, increased,
although remained at relatively low levels. (See Table
6.)
- Interpreting the preceding changes in the distribution of African-American
employment and unionization rates can be complicated since the share
of African-Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the total
workforce has changed over time. Tables 8, 9, and 10 show the "relative
representation" of whites, blacks, and Hispanics in the total union
workforce (Table
8), the total manufacturing workforce (Table
9), and the auto manufacturing workforce (Table
10). The simplest way to explain the calculation is with an example.
To calculate the relative representation of African-Americans in the
share of all union workers, we take the ratio of the share of African-Americans
in all union workers (14.0 percent in 2006, in Table
4) to the share of African-Americans in the total workforce (10.8
percent in 2006, in Table
7). The resulting ratio is 1.30, which is greater than 1, indicating
that African-Americans are "over-represented" among union
workers since there is a larger share of African-Americans in unions
than there is in the workforce as a whole. In the same year, Hispanics
made up 11.5 percent of union workers, but 13.6 percent of the total
workforce, resulting in a relative representation of 0.85, which is
less than 1, indicating that Hispanics are "under-represented"
among union workers. If a group has the same share of workers in unions
as they do in the total workforce, then the ratio for relative representation
would equal one (which is close to the rate for whites in 2006, 0.99).
- In 2006, African-American workers were "over-represented"
in unions (Table
8) and in auto manufacturing (Table
10), but are actually "under-represented" in manufacturing
as a whole. (See Table
9.)
- The relative representation of African-Americans has been slowly
declining in unions (Table 8), manufacturing (from the mid-1990s, Table
9), and auto manufacturing (Table 10). From the mid-1990s on, black
workers have actually been under-represented in manufacturing, relative
to the rest of the economy (Table
9). Meanwhile, white workers have held their ground in manufacturing
(Table
9), and have actually increased their relative representation in
unions (Table
8) and auto manufacturing. (See Table
10.)
John Schmitt is a senior economist and Ben Zipperer is a research
assistant at the Center
for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Click
here for a PDF version of the complete report.
References
Center for Economic and Policy Research. Uniform Extracts of the Current
Population Survey Outgoing Rotation
Group. 2007.
Schmitt, John and Ben Zipperer. 2007a. "Union
Rates Fall in 2006, Severe Drop in Manufacturing," Washington,
D.C.: Center for Economic and Policy Research Union Byte (January).
Schmitt, John and Ben Zipperer. 2007b. "Dropping
the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns," Washington,
D.C.: Center for Economic and Policy Research Briefing Paper (January).
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