Labor unions throughout McHenry County are increasingly concerned that new laws aimed at stripping union power, combined with a growing cultural hostility toward organized labor, are to blame for declining union membership rates nationwide.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that union membership in both public and private sectors dropped by 400,000 in 2012, to 14.3 million, despite overall employment increasing by 2.4 million.

The percentage of union workers fell to 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, making the percentage the lowest ever since 1983, when the Labor Bureau started tracking annual union membership numbers.