Joseph van der Naald, a 2023-2024 CES Fellow and PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at City University of New York, is the co-author of a report released by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies which documents recent trends in unionization patterns.
The State of the Unions 2023: A Profile of Organized Labor in New York City, New York State, and the United States examines the effects that the post-pandemic uptick in organizing has had on the long-term decline in union density. The report highlights the recent rise in labor-related issues, including successful strikes such as “Strike-tober” in October 2021. While data show that public support for unions has increased, overall union membership continues to decline, particularly in the private sector.
The article concludes by stating that “… organized labor continues to face daunting challenges. Yet unions continue to offer substantial protection to a diverse population of workers in the City and State, including teachers and other professionals, as well as large numbers of women, racial-ethnic minorities, and immigrants in both professional and nonprofessional jobs. And the recent surge of interest in organizing and the growth in public support for organized labor may also augur well for the coming years.”
The report has been featured in Inside Higher Education, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The City, Diverse: Issued in Higher Education, and City and State NYC.