Unionization efforts among higher ed student workers have risen immensely, amid an ongoing downward trend in overall workforce union density – the percentage of union members in the workforce, according to a new report from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.
Hunter College
The “State of the Unions 2023” examines workforce labor trends in New York and in the U.S. at large, finding that despite organization efforts, successful strikes, growing public support, and plenty of media attention, the share of union members among U.S. workers continues to fall.
“Unionization rates have fallen relentlessly over the past two decades, and the past year and a half has been no exception,” the report stated.
Union density in New York City and New York State is at its lowest in two decades, 17.7% and 20.2% respectively. Nationally, the rate sits at 10.1%, a decline from 2021.
However, despite this general downward trend, workers in higher education seem to be fighting harder to organize and make demands of their employers.
A special feature section from CUNY's Hunter College in the report about the rise in labor activity in higher ed from 2022 to 2023 illustrates the quickening pace of student worker organizing, to that degree that in the past year and a half, student worker unionization growth has surpassed that of faculty.
