By Steven Allen Adams, West Virginia Watchdog
BY STEVEN ALLEN ADAMS, West Virginia Watchdog
Over a quarter of state and local government employees in West Virginia are part of public sector unions according to a new report from the Cato Institute in Washington D.C.
The report, which appeared in Cato’s Tax & Budget Bulletin, shows that pubic sector unions have overtaken private sector unions in membership, accounting for nearly half of the nation’s union membership.
In 2009, 39 percent of state and local workers were members of unions, which was more than five times the share in the private sector of 7 percent. About two-thirds of government fire department and education workers are members of unions. If you include federal workers, the public sector accounts for more than half of all union members in the nation.
West Virginia ranks 27th in the nation for public sector union size. Only 27 percent of state and local public sector employees are union members, compared to 73 percent in New York and 8 percent in North Carolina.
