Data Check: Union density rises in education sector

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The proportion of Canadian employees who were union members in the first six months of 2011 remained virtually unchanged from the same period the year before, according to StatsCanada data. Unionization in the education sector, however, rose noticeably, particularly amongst teachers and professors.

Nearly 30 per cent of Canadians belong to a union, compared to 12 per cent of Americans. Ontario’s unionization rate is about 27 per cent.

The public sector has a higher rate of union representation (71 per cent) than the private sector (16 per cent). In the U.S., 36 per cent of public sector and only seven per cent of private sector employees are unionized.

A greater proportion of women than men are unionized. Unionization also varies according to such factors as: full-time/part-time status; job permanence and job tenure; and size of employer. Owing, at least in part, to differences in the pace of recovery from the recession, changes in union density also varies between industries and occupations.

 

2010

2011

 

%

%

Ontario total

26.5

26.6

Canada total

29.6

29.7

Men

28.2

28.2

Women

30.9

31.1

Public sector

71.2

71.1

Private sector

16.0

16.0

Ontario

26.5

26.6

Full-time

31.1

31.1

Part-time

23.5

23.6

Permanent

30.0

29.9

Non-permanent

27.3

28.0

Education industry

67.0

67.6

Teachers and professors

73.5

76.0

   Secondary and elementary

85.9

87.1

   Other

47.1

53.0

 Sources: Statistics Canada, Unionization 2011, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

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