Indiana Union Density at 8.3%, and What the UAW Kokomo Win Actually Signals

Indiana's union membership rate held at 8.3% in 2025-260,000 union members statewide, well below the national rate of 10.0%, and near the state's all-time low. That number sounds quiet. It is not.

The more immediate indicator for Indiana plant leaders is the organizing infrastructure already operating at the facility level. In May 2025, UAW workers at StarPlus Energy in Kokomo, a battery plant inside Indiana's EV supply chain, signed authorization cards to join the union. That win sets a pattern-bargaining precedent in a sector where labor norms are still being established. Contract cycles in the Kokomo-Indianapolis corridor typically run 3 to 5 years. Organizing gains in the battery sector will inform bargaining expectations across adjacent manufacturing over that window.

The competitive context: Michigan repealed its right-to-work law in 2023. That repeal narrows one structural difference Indiana manufacturers have leaned on in cross-border labor competition. The Indiana AFL-CIO's Organizing Academy is building internal organizer capacity right now, not waiting for federal law reform. The 8.3% number tells you where the state has been. The StarPlus Energy win tells you where the pressure is heading.