by: Jacque Porter

Posted: Jan 19, 2023 / 07:33 AM PST

Updated: Jan 19, 2023 / 07:59 AM PST

(KTXL) — The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual report on union membership Thursday showing that the number of employees in California that are union members increased in 2022.

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According to the report, union membership rose to 16.1% of employed workers in 2022, up from 15.9% in 2021.

That number went against national trends which showed union membership decreased by 0.2 percent across the country from 10.3% of employed workers to 10.1%.

The total number of union members in the United States actually did increase but the total size of the workforce also increased and by enough that the overall percentage of union members in the workforce decreased.

The BLS estimated that California’s workforce increased in 2022 by about 4.8%. However, total union membership increased from about 2,468,000 to about 2,617,000, an increase of around 6.0%.

The Golden State tied with Rhode Island for the 4th highest percentage of union memberships. Hawaii had the highest rate in the country with 21.9% and South Carolina had the lowest with 1.7%.

The National Labor Relations Board’s website, which tracks individual unionization cases, registered 369 petitions submitted to unionize in California in 2022, the highest number of cases tracked in the state since 2017.

Last year Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill making it easier for some employees in the agricultural industry, one of California’s largest industry sectors, to join a union via a process known as “card check”.

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