Local governments with labor relations policies increased from 14 percent in 1972 to 17 percent in 1979. The number of labor agreements increased faster. The number of full-time employees with memberships in employee organizations increased during the period, but the percentage of employees belonging to organizations decreased to just over 50 percent. With few exceptions, a larger percentage of employees were members of employee organizations in metropolitan than in nonmetropolitan areas regardless of year or geographic region.