BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Fresh U.S. Labor Department figures show union membership continues to slide in Idaho. Data released Thursday shows union membership among all wage and salary workers in the state is at 4.8 percent for 2012, down from 5.1 percent the year before and 10.2 percent in 1993.

The agency estimates that 29,000 of Idaho's 613,000 workers last year were union members. Unions represented another 7,000 Idaho workers who are not required to belong under the state's 1985 right-to-work law. Nationally, 11.3 percent of workers — or 14.4 million — are members of unions, down from 11.8 percent from 2011.

Other states with low union membership include North Carolina, Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Idaho union membership reached 25 percent in 1964, but dropped to 9.6 percent in 1985.

n

 

More From 95.7 KEZJ