Brief Description of Employees’ and Employers’ Associations
Trade unions constitute the largest and most influential employee organisations in the United States. A majority of trade unions are organised under two umbrella organisations: the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) and the Strategic Organizing Center, formerly known as the Change-to-Win Federation.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an organisation dedicated to representing employers’ interests by engaging in lobbying campaigns, is the largest employer organisation in the United States. In certain heavily unionised sectors (e.g., healthcare), employers can and do create multi-employer bargaining organisations to collectively negotiate the terms of collective bargaining agreements with employee-elected unions.
Rights and Importance of Trade Unions
Due to the United States Constitution’s guarantee of a freedom of association, employees are free to form and join trade unions. As of late 2025, 14.7 million workers, or 10.0% of the workforce, are members of a trade union. Public-sector employees are unionised at a much higher rate (32.9%), than private-sector employees. Only about 5.9% of private industry employees are unionised. Industries with high unionisation rates included utilities (17.8%), transportation and warehousing (13.6%), and educational services (13.4%). Among occupational groups, the highest unionisation rates in 2025 were in education, training, and library occupations (32.5%) and protective service occupations (31.3%). While only a small portion of the U.S. workforce is unionised, trade unions wield significant lobbying power.
Other Types of Employee Representative Bodies
Once certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the bargaining unit, the employer must begin bargaining for a collective bargaining agreement in good faith with the union as the employees’ exclusive bargaining agent. Outside of the representation by a union, or as otherwise provided by a negotiated collective bargaining agreement, employees do not have an independent right to management or board representation. American law does not recognise works councils or other forms of employee representation.
