Kevin Hardy at Stateline reports Labor Union Membership continues to climb in the U.S., though the increase remains sharply divided by the politics of individual States. Last year, the Nation added more than 411,000 Union Members - the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the end of last year, more than 14.6 million American Workers belonged to a Union - about 10% of the workforce, the study said. While Union Membership grew across the country, the State of the Unions report found States that have sought to protect or strengthen Collective Bargaining Rights added three times as many Union Members as so-called Right-To-Work (for less) States, which prohibit mandatory Union Membership or dues as conditions of employment. “What seems to be the number one driver is the ‘state’ of the State,” said one of the Study Authors, Robert Bruno, who leads the Labor Education Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “If the policy is ‘Anti-Union, it suppresses Worker will.’ ‘Where the law allows Worker will to flourish, as I would argue it should, then you see higher numbers.’ So you ‘can’t ignore’ politics. You ‘can’t ignore’ policy.” State Governments are nearly evenly divided on Labor policy, with 26 having Right-To-Work Laws. Union Membership Rates sit at about 14% in Collective Bargaining States and 5% in Right-To-Work States, the study found.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Labor unions are growing, but where depends on state politics • Stateline