Today’s newly released union data reveal yet another dimension to a disturbing trend we’ve seen since Trump took office in 2025 – threats to Black women’s jobs and economic security. After playing a key role in driving growth in unionization in recent years, the number and share of unionized Black women workers declined in 2025. The unionization rate of Black women dropped from 10.9 percent in 2024 to 10.5 percent in 2025 and the number of Black women union members declined sharply by 48,000.
These declines are part of a broader trend for Black women workers, who have borne the brunt of economic harm during the first year of the second Trump administration. That’s due in large part to the Trump administration’s chaotic policies that have threatened economic security, worsened the job market, and undermined civil rights laws and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that make workplaces more fair and accessible. And labor unions have faced particular threats. The Trump administration attempted to strip federal workers – disproportionately Black women – of their collective bargaining rights and attacked National Labor Relations Board leaders, including illegally attempting to fire Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to sit on the Board.
The decline in unionization among Black women union workers in 2025 was a stark departure from overall trends. Unionization rates were largely unchanged for men and women overall, and rates for white and Latino workers increased between 2024 and 2025, primarily driven by men’s increases. In contrast, unionization rates for Black and Asian men declined in 2025. However, Asian women’s unionization rates offered a bright spot: after leading women’s union growth in 2024, Asian women’s unionization rate increased from 9.1 percent in 2024 to 9.8 percent in 2025.
Union membership is especially important for women
When Black women are not members of or represented by unions, it hurts them financially – and that harm worsens over time. Our analysis shows that union members, and those represented by unions, typically have higher wages compared to their non-union counterparts. Overall, women receive a larger ‘union bump’ than men, with women union members typically making 23 percent more than their non-union counterparts, compared to 15 percent among men workers. Among women workers, Latinas experience the largest bump (34 percent), while Black women see a 19 percent increase. That bump means that the typical Black woman union member takes home close to $9,200 annually, compared to her non-union counterpart.
And these higher wages mean union workers overall have a smaller gender wage gap than non-union workers: among full-time workers who aren’t in unions, women are typically paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man – while among union members, women are paid 87 cents to a man’s dollar. Black women union workers make 72 cents for every dollar paid to white men union members – a smaller gap than among non-union full-time workers (70 cents), while Latina union workers make 75 cents for every dollar paid to white men union workers, compared to 65 cents among non-union workers.
Improving union membership for women provides benefits that go beyond wages. Women union members have more access to essential benefits like paid leave, pensions and health coverage – benefits women are especially likely to go without – and unions have initiated efforts to support access to reproductive health care and gender affirming care.
Despite threats to Black women union workers, Black women leaders continue to fight
Despite Trump’s attacks on Black women, Black women union leaders continue to fight back. SEIU President April Verrett, NEA President Becky Pringle, newly elected United Steelworkers’ President Roxanne Brown and Chicago Teachers’ Union President Stacy Davis Gates are among the Black women leading the way in the fight to ensure union workers, including Black women, have fair workplaces and are able to fully exercise their collective bargaining rights. Their efforts pay dividends. Strong unions support all workers – and they benefit our democracy.
Note: Due to the federal government shut down, which precluded October data collection, 2025 annual data are based on 11-month averages. Wage gaps in this analysis are based on weekly earnings for wage and salary earners and may differ from those in other National Partnership publications which are based on annual earnings data. Due to a lack of investment in necessary data infrastructure, union membership data for American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and multiracial women are not included in this data release.
