Union membership declines again among California state workers. Leaders blame remote work
Union membership among California state workers dipped in 2022, according to data from the State Controller’s Office. The trend reflects the challenge of recruiting new members in the era of hybrid and remote work, union leaders say.
Just under 65% of workers across California government paid union dues in October, according to the most recent data available from the controller’s office. That’s slightly fewer than the 66% of workers who paid dues in October 2021.
The number of rank-and-file workers in state government shrank by about 2,400 rank-and-file workers in the last year, the data show, now hovering just over 188,000 employees.
The number of dues-paying union members, meanwhile, declined by about 3,750.
A little over 121,750 employees paid dues in October, the data show.
The pandemic’s legacy of hybrid and remote work have made recruitment and retention harder for unions like the Professional Engineers in California Government, which used to rely heavily on in-person meetings in the office and at new hire orientations for recruitment.
“It’s very difficult to make that connection, try as we might, over Zoom or WebEx,” said Ted Toppin, executive director of PECG. “But that doesn’t mean we can stop.”
California brought on hundreds of new engineers and scientists in the last two to three years, Toppin said, as part of the state’s effort to improve its transportation sector and meet ambitious climate change goals. He doesn’t expect hiring to slow anytime soon, given recent investments in transportation, infrastructure and climate change at both the state and federal level.
Union membership in PECG among the rank-and-file members dropped about 3% from last October to this October, the controller’s office data shows, hovering around 78%. PECG also represents supervisors and managers, who aren’t represented in the controller’s office data. Internal numbers from PECG show a slight increase in membership among supervisors and managers from last year to this year.
“High percentages of membership provide you with the source of power at the bargaining table,” Toppin said. “That’s the power of the union message.”
An ‘uphill battle’ since Janus
The largest state worker union, SEIU Local 1000, suffered membership declines in the last year. Between October 2021 and 2022, the union lost over 3,100 dues-paying members across the nine bargaining units.
“It’s been an uphill battle with membership,” said Local 1000 board chair Bill Hall. “The majority of the people leaving are people leaving state service for better employment.”
Hall was elected as the union’s leader after President Richard Louis Brown was suspended from his position earlier this year. Hall said he believed the internal chaos and power struggles likely soured some members on the union.
Like Toppin and PECG, Hall cited the pandemic and remote work as roadblocks to recruitment and retention. But he also pointed to other challenges, such as the state failing to provide the union with some new hire contact information and certain dates of new hire orientations.
Hall also attributes membership challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus vs. AFSCME, which hit union revenue by eliminating the ability of public employee unions to collect fees from employees who don’t pay dues.
“Not being a member and saving your dues money has a cost, and the cost is that the Local 1000 has less bargaining power,” Hall said.
High membership in public safety unions
A few units bucked the trend of declining membership. Cal Fire Local 2881 saw an increase of about 660 dues-paying members from last October to this October, and the California Association of Professional Scientists added 205 dues-paying members to their ranks.
California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment added 78 members, while the California Association of Highway Patrolmen brought on 40 members.
The state’s two primary law enforcement unions, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and CHP, retained membership rates of above 99%.
This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Union membership declines again among California state workers. Leaders blame remote work."