The public sector has the largest percentage of union workers at 37%, which is more than five times that of private sector workers at 6.9%. 

Over half of union members live in just seven states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio.

States with union membership rates below 5% are: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Presidential wannabe, Rick Santorum, coming from Pennsylvania, has had a pro-union record, supporting positions usually favored by Democrats.  Stale union practices (such as across the board pay increases) undermine desired employee performance-based compensation systems that recognize and reward productivity, initiative, excellence and results.   

The percentage of workers who were members of a union dropped slightly from 11.9 percent to 11.8 percent in 2011; however, membership actually rose by 49,000 workers, up to 14.8 million people.  These numbers are from a Jan. 27, 2012 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report and the SHRM Legal Posting.