FYI: Union membership continued its 20-year decline in 2003, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released last week. Union membership declined to 12.9 percent of wage and salaried workers, dropping by 369,000 to 15.8 million workers, primarily in the private sector. The rate of union membership in the private sector has dropped by half since 1983, BLS said. African Americans were the most likely to be in unions (16.5 percent), and men (14.3 percent) were more likely than women (11.4 percent). New York remained the most-unionized state, with 24.6 percent of workers enrolled; it was among only four states to have at least 20 percent of the workforce in unions. [1/28/04]