A List of Unions
In the United States, numerous large labor unions represent workers in collective bargaining negotiations with management. Union membership has been down since its peak in the 1950s, when one in three American workers belonged to a labor union. In 2008, only about 12 percent of the total workforce belonged to a union. Despite the recent decline, unions remain powerful, both in this country and around the world. The country's five largest labor unions each have memberships of more than 1 million workers.
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National Education Association
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The National Education Association (NEA) had 2.6 million members as of 2002. It is the largest U.S. labor union and includes all types of educational personnel. Its membership spans beyond teachers and includes administrators, support staff and substitutes. The NEA even has a student program.
Service Employees International Union
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the second largest union in the United States, with nearly 1.5 million members as of 2002. It represents workers in the service sector, which includes health care, public services and property services. Members include nurses, bus drivers, child-care providers, private security personnel and janitors.
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United Food and Commercial Workers
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The third largest U.S. labor union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), had 1.3 million members as of 2002. It represents workers in the food industry, namely those who work in supermarkets, food processing plants and packinghouses.
The Teamsters
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The fourth largest union in the U.S. is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, typically known as the Teamsters. The Teamsters is one of the best known labor unions, as well, including some notoriety in the past for alleged ties to organized crime. But it serves more than 1.3 million members (as of 2002) and includes workers from more than 20 different industries.
AFSCME
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The AFSCME stands for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It is the fifth largest labor union in the United States, with more than 1.3 million members (as of 2002). Members work in the local and state governments, including corrections, law enforcement, health care and other public service occupations.
Other Large Unions
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Other large unions in the United States (membership in parentheses, all data from 2002): American Federation of Teachers (770,090 members), United Auto Workers (638,722), United Steelworkers of America (532,234) and the American Postal Workers Union (292,901)
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