Organized labor remains strong in New York City despite the decline of unionization nationwide, reports The New York Times.
The publication cites a study titled "The State of the Unions 2016" by Ruth Milkman and Stephanie Luce, both professors at the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the City University of New York.
Nationally, the share of workers in a union has slowly and steadily decreased since 2001 and is now at 10.9 percent, according to the study. That compares to 25.5 percent in New York City, up from 21.5 percent in 2012. In New York state, 24.1 percent of workers are unionized, the study shows.
The report's authors said there have been slow but steady losses in private-sector union membership at the national level in recent years, even before the Great Recession. However, in the public sector, they found union density has been relatively stable.
In contrast, private-sector union density in New York City and New York state has increased over the past three years. The authors attributed this, in part, to the steady recovery of employment in unionized industries hard hit by the recession, such as construction and hotels. They said union density also increased in healthcare, and even more in transportation and utilities. Nationally, 11.6 percent of workers in the healthcare and social assistance sector are in a union, compared to 20 percent in New York state and 26.2 percent in New York City.
The countertrend in New York has come despite limited success in organizing the employees of fast-food restaurants and other workers who pushed for a $15 minimum wage, Ms. Milkman said, according to The New York Times.
That campaign started in Manhattan in November 2012, with leaders at the time seeking an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour and union representation for the workers, the article states.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) have both since signed bills that will raise their respective state's minimum wage to $15.
Other places, including Seattle and Washington, have also adopted plans to raise their minimum wages to $15, reports The New York Times.
"The other places that have passed the $15-an-hour measure are also union strongholds," Ms. Milkman said, according to the article. So, she said, "there's a decent possibility that this will lead to greater union membership."
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