CT ranks fifth for union membership among labor force

CT Mirror · Sasha Allen · September 4, 2026

union membership has declined in ct

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Connecticut has among the highest rates of union membership in the nation.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Connecticut and Rhode Island tied for the fifth-highest percentage of unionized workers last year — behind only New York, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

In 2025, 16.1% of Connecticut’s total employed population were members of a union and 17.2% were covered by union protections. (A portion of the 284,000 workers covered by unions in Connecticut aren’t members.)

But union membership varies by industry. Among the state’s public sector workers, more than half reported union membership.

Union membership was more common — in Connecticut and nationally — for previous generations of workers.

In 1980, an estimated 23% of the national working population were members of a union, according to Census data compiled by Union Stats, a group composed of economists who maintain the database of demographic and employment union data. But that number has declined since then.

By 2025, only around 10% of the U.S. employed population were union members.

In Connecticut, union membership has fluctuated over that same period but is down overall. In 1983, nearly 23% of working people in Connecticut were union members, notably higher than today’s rate.

Connecticut labor unions first organized during the Industrial Revolution, when the scale of American production was expanding.

In the 1830s, craftsmen in Connecticut created mechanics’ associations. Soon, chapters of different skill-based unions were getting more involved in state politics, and some members were elected to the state legislature , where they’ve represented worker interests for generations.

Union membership reached a peak around the 1950s. But in the latter half of the 20th century, manufacturing began moving overseas, and sentiment toward unions shifted. The 1980s marked the beginning of a steep drop-off in union membership in the U.S., especially in the private sector.

Today, union membership in Connecticut is most common in the public sector. And benefits for those workers is a perennial debate among state lawmakers.

An estimated 63% of public sector employees in Connecticut are members of a union, with 65% of public employees covered by a union. That’s second-highest among states; only New York reports a higher percentage of unionized public sector workers.

Nationally, only around 32.9% of the public sector workforce is unionized.

Read the full story at CT Mirror