Unions - Are they Worth it?
Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers
Total
Union $760
Nonunion $599
African-American
Union $665
Nonunion $491
Latino
Union $632
Nonunion $419
Asian
Union $759
Nonunion $681
Unions by percentage of employment
Whites
Men: 14 percent
Women: 11 percent
African-Americans
Men: 18 percent
Women: 15 percent
Latinos
Men: 11 percent
Women: 10 percent
Asians
Men: 11 percent
Women: 12 percent
Latino union membership
2002
Total Employed: 15.5 million
Members of union: 1.6 million (10.6 percent)
Represented by union: 1.8 million (11.7 percent)
2003
Total employed: 16.1 million
Members of union: 1.7 million (10.7 percent)
Represented by union: 1.9 million (11.9 percent)
Unions help spike pay
Average hourly wage, union: $12.98
Average hourly wage, nonunion: $9.43
Average yearly wage, union: $26,998
Average yearly wage, nonunion: $19,614 [more
]Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor