A great deal of attention has recently focused on the so-called “revitalization” of unions, however, this would not be the first time the media has overplayed an uptick in organizing.

Glenn Spencer
Senior Vice President, Employment Policy Division, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

A great deal of attention has recently focused on the so-called “revitalization” of unions. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) itself has bragged about a “surge” in election petitions, and media story after media story has gushed about how workers across the spectrum are demanding to organize.

There is indeed something to this narrative, as a Bloomberg Law analysis of mid-year numbers show. For example, in the first six months of 2022, 1,199 election petitions were filed. This is up from 668 in the same period of 2021. Even with 2021 having been a lean period for organizing, this is still a significant year-over-year increase.

Of course, not every petition results in an election. Even so, the number of elections held has also risen, from 465 in the first six months of 2021 to 837 in the same period of 2022 (once again, however, 2021 was a bit of a low point for union elections.)

However, these numbers miss the forest for the trees. Union membership as a whole has been in decline, as the table below shows. The NLRB’s data show that just 43,000 workers were “organized” in the first six months of 2022. This is less than 10% of the overall losses unions have seen since 2017 alone, based on numbers...

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