RI No. 6 among unionized states in 2011; labor adds 4,000

January 30th, 2012 at 10:56 am by under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Rhode Island’s labor unions added 4,000 members last year as the state continued to be one of the most heavily organized in the nation, according to a new report from the U.S. Labor Department.

Union membership rose to 79,000 of Rhode Island’s 453,000 workers in 2011, or 17.4 percent of the labor force, the government said. That was up from 75,000 members and 16.4 percent of the work force in 2010.

Government number-crunchers have warned in the past that the relatively small annual fluctuations in union membership here may be a statistical mirage because of Rhode Island’s small size.

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• Related: More on union membership in Rhode Island since 1989 (Feb. 1)

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Permalink 3 Comments

3 Responses to “RI No. 6 among unionized states in 2011; labor adds 4,000”

  1. Downsized54 says:
    January 30, 2012 at 11:53 am

    The unions are killing this state

  2. Mr. Fish says:
    January 30, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    ten years of tax cuts for the rich
    ten years of benefit cuts for workers
    ten years of services cuts for the people
    fewer state workers and teachers
    higher taxes on the middle class

    yup, those damn unions, at it again. Pay no attention to the rich guy across the bay….that would be “class warfare.”

  3. Jim Donahue says:
    January 30, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    During the worst downturn in the last 70 years while 19% of the state’s workers are underemployed and unions here add 4,000 members?

    All government workers or remnants of the ‘stimulus’ bailout for unions.