After reaching a recent peak at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Maine’s union membership has cooled since 2020.
In 2020, 14.7 percent of the 559,000 employees across Maine were union workers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. By 2021, that number had dropped to 12.4 percent while state workforce ranks increased to 563,000.
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As of 2022, the rate of Maine employees with union membership dropped to a 10-year low, with just 9.2 percent of the workforce belonging to a union. The dip in membership comes as state employment rates have dropped, with 527,000 workers recorded in 2022.
As of 2023, it stands to be seen whether union membership will grow in the Pine Tree State. A handful of unionization efforts remain underway across Maine, with University of Maine System graduate students launching a unionization bid in March and Brunswick Staples employees seeking to become the first unionized store in the nation.
