Yes, union membership has increased under President Joe Biden, but still not at pre-2020 level

President Joe Biden has touted his administration as being pro-organized labor and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has backed up her boss on that statement. 

Su was in Milwaukee in August to recognize the Biden administration’s designating the city a "workforce hub" allowing officials to work with federal agencies to remove lead pipes. While here, Su also discussed the need to boost training opportunities for the building trades. 

During a press conference, she said, "Four hundred thousand workers are now in a union that were not in a union when (Biden) became president."  

That sounds like a lot of new union members, but is that accurate?

After the visit, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contacted Su’s office to get more evidence for the claim and it responded with information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Based on the bureau’s information, the number of workers (age 16 and older) who are union members went from 14,012,000 in 2021, when Biden took office, to 14,424,000 in 2023.

This year’s data has not been released, but comparing those numbers, it shows union membership increased by about 412,000.

So the figure Su cited is correct.

This is a claim in which context is important. 

Su and the Biden administration are trying to show that workers and unions are benefiting — and growing — because of current policies. 

But the increase of union workers follows more of an industry recovery pattern from the 2020 coronavirus pandemic which impacted workforces across all sectors. Industries, such as tourism, have been recovering steadily during these last four years. 

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The same Bureau of Labor Statistics data set shows union membership is not back at prepandemic levels.

In 2019, during the Donald Trump administration, there were 14,574,000 union members, about 162,000 more than the most recent data.

During the last 10 years, union membership was at its highest in 2017 at 14,744,00 — some 300,000 union members more than now.  

Since 2013, the lowest number of union members were in 2020 and 2021 — amid the pandemic — at 14,012,000 and 14,285,000 respectively. 

Su said, "Four hundred thousand workers are now in a union that were not in a union when (Biden) became president."  

That figure is correct however it does not mention that the increase is more indicative of unions — and the entire workforce — recovering from the pandemic than to any specific policy.

Our definition of Mostly True is, "the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information." That fits here.