Union Membership in U.S. Companies Slips to Low in ’10

Union membership in U.S. companies slumped to a record low last year after the recession eroded employment in industries where organized labor represents the workforce, the Labor Department reported.

Unions represented 6.9 percent of employees in companies, down from 7.2 percent in 2009, according to data released today by the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Member rolls shrank to 7.1 million, led by a drop in the construction industry to 13.1 percent of workers from 14.5 percent a year earlier, the bureau said.