Union membership in the United States held steady in 2001, despite record layoffs following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and an economy in recession, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

BLS also reported that wages remained higher for union members, especially for women and minorities.

Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were about 20 percent higher in 2001 for union members $718 compared with $575 for non-union workers.

Weekly earnings were about 31 percent higher for union Hispanic workers, 23 percent for union African American workers, and 20 percent higher for union white workers.

Weekly earnings were about 23 percent higher for union women than for non-union women workers and about 15 percent higher for union men. Weekly earnings were about 26 percent higher for union Hispanic women and about 25 percent higher for union African American and white women workers. Weekly earnings were about 32 percent higher for union Hispanic men, 23 percent higher for union African American men, and 15 percent higher for union white men.

The AFL-CIO noted that, even though 2 million workers were laid off last year, the number of workers in U.S. unions rose slightly over the year to 16.28 million.

The federation said that union membership remained steady despite the economy because more workers are coming together to form unions and unions are improving their ability to reach out to new members. The AFL-CIO said that, according to federation and affiliate data, at least 400,000 workers joined unions last year.

AFL-CIO Pres. John Sweeney said: "Today's numbers show that steady dedication and perseverance are laying the groundwork for greater change."

The BLS report showed that more women workers than ever are forming and joining unions. The number of women who are union members reached an all-time high of 6.77 million in 2001, an increase of 93,000. There were increased numbers of union women among white, African American, and Hispanic women workers.

The number of male union members decreased in 2001, BLS said, to 9.50 million from 9.58 million in 2000. The decline was posted among white, African American, and Hispanic men.

However, the rate of unionization was higher among men at 15.1 percent than women at 11.7 percent, BLS said. African Americans were more likely to be union members, with unionization rates of 17.0 percent. The proportion of white union members was 13.1 percent, while 11.3 percent of Hispanic workers were union members.

Union membership by states continued the pattern of higher rates – above the national average of 13.5 percent – in the East North Central, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific divisions, while all states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions had rates below it, BLS said.

Some 21 states and the District of Columbia had membership rates above the national average, while 29 states had rates below it. New York, Hawaii, Alaska, and Michigan had union membership rates above 20 percent.

The unionization rate for workers in the public sector was 37.4 percent in 2001. Local government, which includes many workers in the strongly unionized occupations of teachers, firefighters and police officers, had a unionization rate of 43.1 percent.

In the private sector, the unionization rate was 9.0 percent. The union membership rate was highest in transportation and public utilities at 23.5 percent. Also higher than average were the construction industry at 18.4 percent and manufacturing at 14.6 percent.