DETROIT (AP) - The United Auto Workers union says its membership has edged up in the past year after decades of contraction with the shrinking of U.S. auto industry employment.
The Detroit-based union says it reported its 2012 membership figure to the U.S. government Thursday.
The UAW says it had 382,513 members last year, up from 380,716 in 2011. That's an increase of 1,797, or 0.5 percent.
Union President Bob King says union "membership continues on a steady path of recovery, even in the face of concerted attacks on workers and collective bargaining."
The announcement came the day Michigan became a right-to-work state, meaning unions can't collect mandatory fees from employees they represent under collective bargaining agreements.
The latest membership figure is up 7.7 percent from the union's 2009 count of 355,191.
