With new construction projects and fresh organizing, Minnesota union membership in 2021 grew to its highest level in 14 years, seemingly bucking a national trend that has seen memberships bouncing close to 40-year lows.
The number of Minnesota workers belonging to a union swelled slightly last year — from 398,000 to 416,000, or 16% of all workers, according to data released by the U.S. Labor Department last week.
It's also a big bump from 2019 when only 364,000 Minnesota workers, or 13.7%, were union members. Union organizers attribute the uptick to increased organizing and big infrastructure projects like the $3 billion Enbridge pipeline built across northern Minnesota.
