On the eve of Labor Day, I read a story in The Washington Post that reports “states with higher union membership also have higher average weekly wages: The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) says the average weekly wage in New York in the fourth quarter of 2013 was $1,266 — 26 percent higher than the U.S. average.”
Ironically, I was preparing a series of three or four articles to commemorate Labor Day at the time I read The Washington Post article so I decided to do two things — 1. Find out which states had the highest percentage of employees who belonged to labor unions and the states with the highest average weekly wages and 2. Post an article on those statistics as the first part of my series of articles commemorating Labor Day.
I also recalled reading numerous lists which reported that most of the wealthiest states were in the pro-union Northeast and most of the poorest states were in the anti-union South. I suspected that there was also a correlation between labor union membership and states with the best qualities of life so I looked for the “wealthiest” and “poorest” lists as well.
Below are the lists that I found.
States With The Highest Percentage Of Employees In Unions 1. New York: 24.1 percent 2. Alaska: 22.1 percent 3. Hawaii: 21.5 percent 4. Washington: 18.9 percent 5. Michigan: 17.5 percent 6. Rhode Island: 17.4 percent 7. California: 17.1 percent 8. Oregon: 17.1 percent 9. Connecticut: 16.8 percent 10. Illinois: 16.2 percent
States With The Lowest Percentage Of Employees In Unions 1. North Carolina: 2.9 percent 2. South Carolina: 3.4 percent 3. Georgia: 4 percent 4. Arkansas: 4.2 percent 5. Louisiana: 4.4 percent 6. Virginia: 4.6 percent 7. Tennessee: 4.6 percent 8. Mississippi: 5 percent 9. South Dakota: 5.1 percent 10. Idaho: 5.1 percent
States With The Highest Average Weekly Wages 1. New York: $1,205 2. Connecticut: $1,195 3. Massachusetts: $1,171 4. New Jersey: $1,127 5. California: $1,092 6. Maryland: $1,039 7. Illinois: $1,004 8. Washington: $999 9. Delaware: $996 10. Virginia: $993
Wealthiest States 1. Maryland. 2. New Jersey. 3. Alaska. 4. Connecticut. 5. Hawaii. 6. Massachusetts. 7. New Hampshire. 8. Virginia. 9. Minnesota. 10. Delaware.
Poorest States 1. Mississippi. 2. Arkansas. 3. West Virginia. 4. Alabama. 5. Kentucky. 6. New Mexico. 7. Tennessee. 8. Louisiana. 9. South Carolina. 10. Oklahoma.
There appears to be a correlation between labor union membership on the one hand and higher wages and wealth on the other hand.
Blogs that I will post later this week on the declining and stagnant wages for most of the employees in the USA and the declining percentage of employees in labor unions will reinforce the conclusion that unions have improved the lives of American workers and communities.
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