Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sent out a press release on union membership in Washington in 2010.  BLS notes, “Since 1990, Washington has had union membership rates above the U.S. average.”

In fact, in 2010, Washington’s union membership as a percent of total employment was the fourth highest in the country, behind only New York, Alaska and Hawaii.  Washington is seventh in the nation in both public- and private-sector union membership.  The table below shows the percentages by state.

Furthermore, public-sector unionization in Washington is growing, while private-sector union membership rates are declining.