Wisconsin's union presence shrinks dramatically, new report finds

Wisconsin union membership has been cut in half over the last two decades, according to a new report released Tuesday.

Former Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10, which passed in 2011 and largely eliminated collective bargaining rights for public employees, is the single biggest reason for that decline, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which produced the report with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the year 2000, more than one out of every six workers in Wisconsin was represented by a union — 17.8%. Wisconsin was the 10th highest state for unionization in the country.

In 2021, unions represented just 7.9% of the state’s workforce. Wisconsin’s rank among states for union representation fell to 28, and union membership was below the national average of 10.3%, the Wisconsin Policy Forum reported.

Read more: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/wisconsins-union-presence-shrinks-dramatically-new-report-finds/