A majority of union members now work for the government, partly because layoffs in the recession plunged the private sector's union levels to a record low. Local, state and government workers make up 51.5 percent of all union members - becoming the majority of organized labor for the first time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The shift shows the difficulty unions face in trying to revive a movement that has declined since its peak in the 1950s. And it undermines the traditional ability of unions to push private sector wages higher. Overall, union membership declined by 771,000 workers, to 15.3 million.

- Associated Press