Unions lose their influence in the California construction industry.
My faithful calculation sheet, filled with unionstats.com figures which follow the data from the Federal Labor Movement in 1983, found 129,800 unionized construction workers through the state last year – the lowest since 2014.
Union membership in the building trades is down 21% in one year and fell 29% compared to 2019, the year preceding the pandemic to the upheaval of the economy.
Compare this narrowing to the growth of non -unionized personnel on construction sites.
California had a record of 907,200 construction workers not unionized in 2024 – which increased by 11% in one year and up 13% since 2019. Construction bosses have worked hard to keep as many projects as possible outside the scope of organized work.
The change in employment models means that unions controlled 12.5% of all California construction workers last year, the smallest tranche ever recorded. This is down compared to 17% in 2023 and 19% in 2019. It is also offset from the average share of 21% since 1983 – when union membership has equaled 39% of all construction jobs throughout the state.
And construction also loses its share of work organized in California. Only 5.5% of the 2.2 million union workers throughout the state in 2024 were in the building trades, against 6.6% in 2023, 7.3% in 2019 and an average of 6.4% since 1983.
By the way, union membership in all California industries reached a hollow of 18 years in 2024 to 14%.
Speaking regional
The counties of Los Angeles and Orange had the largest number of unionized construction workers last year – 38,300 members – according to these data when they are decided by major employment markets through the State. It is a share of 11% of all the construction jobs of the Al-Oc.
Here is union membership to other metropolitan regions of California:
Inner empire: 18,800 members, or a share of 12% of all construction jobs.
San Diego: 15,600 members, 17% share.
Stockton: 12,000 members, 28%.
San Francisco: 7,300 members, 8%.
Fresno: 5,200 members, 32%.
Modesto: 4,600 members, 16%.
San Luis Obispo: 3,700 members, 52%.
San Jose: 3,400 members, 8%.
Sacramento: 2,900 members, 5%.
Santa Rosa: 2,800 members, 29%.
Vallejo: 2,700 members, 51%.
Redding: 2,000 members, 26%.
Hanford: 1,700 members, 57%.
Chico: 1,600 members, 20% sharing.
Visalia: 1,500 members, 15% share.
Santa Maria: 1,400 members, 5%.
Santa Cruz: 1,600 members, 22%.
No member of the union was recorded in Bakersfield, Salinas and in the county of Ventura.
Jonathan Lansner is company columnist for Southern California News Group. It can be attached to jlansner@scng.com
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