--- title: What Happened to the American Labor Union? description: America's changing economy might have something to do with it canonical: https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/ author: Arpita Aneja article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-04T17:53:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:42:45.895Z article:section: History og:title: What Happened to the American Labor Union? og:description: America's changing economy might have something to do with it og:url: https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5147356fba28299/698862598e06012d22462359/gettyimages-3206086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Construction Strikers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Happened to the American Labor Union? twitter:description: America's changing economy might have something to do with it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5147356fba28299/698862598e06012d22462359/gettyimages-3206086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Happened to the American Labor Union?  by [Arpita Aneja](https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Sep 4, 2015 5:53 PM UTC  circa 1930: Full-length image of a group of strikers from the Construction Workers Union holding signs while picketing for higher wages. (Photo by Lambert/Getty Images) circa 1930: Full-length image of a group of strikers from the Construction Workers Union holding signs while picketing for higher wages. (Photo by Lambert/Getty Images)Lambert—Getty Images  by [Arpita Aneja](https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Sep 4, 2015 5:53 PM UTC Labor unions were a prominent part of 20th-century America. But, in 2014, only 11.1% of American workers were members of unions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What happened to unions, and why are they a diminishing part of working life? Watch the video above to find out why labor unions have been on the decline. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/"},"headline":"What Happened to the American Labor Union?","datePublished":"2015-09-04T17:53:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:42:45.895Z","description":"America's changing economy might have something to do with it","url":"https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/","keywords":["Labor","History","Workers","Unions","Labor Day","America"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5147356fba28299/698862598e06012d22462359/gettyimages-3206086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5147356fba28299/698862598e06012d22462359/gettyimages-3206086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Construction Strikers","caption":"Construction Strikers","creditText":"Lambert—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/labor/","name":"Labor"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4023296/american-labor-union/","name":"What Happened to the American Labor Union?"}}]}] ```