Good news on this labor day:
Seventy-one percent of Americans now approve of labor unions. Although statistically similar to last year’s 68%, it is up from 64% before the pandemic and is the highest Gallup has recorded on this measure since 1965.
These data are from Gallup’s annual Work and Education survey, collected Aug. 1-23.
The latest approval figure comes amid a burst of 2022 union victories across the country, with high-profile successes at major American corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks. The National Labor Relations Board reported a 57% increase in union election petitions filed during the first six months of fiscal year 2021.
Support for labor unions was highest in the 1950s, when three in four Americans said they approved. Support only dipped below the 50% mark once, in 2009, but has improved in the 13 years since and now sits at a level last seen nearly 60 years ago.
About One in Six Americans Live in a Union Household
Sixteen percent of Americans live in a household where at least one resident is a union member. This includes U.S. adults who report that they themselves are a union member (6%), those who say someone else in their home is a member (7%), and those who say they and someone else in their household belong to unions (3%).
The net 16% union household figure is within the 14% to 21% range Gallup has recorded since 2001.
Gallup also polled union members and nonunion members June 13-23 in a separate online Gallup Panel survey about union membership.
Membership is highest among front-line and production workers, of whom one in five (20%) are union members.
About one in 10 workers in healthcare and social assistance (13%), white-collar positions (11%), and administrative and clerical roles (10%) are union members.
Workers in managerial roles (6%) are the least likely to be members of unions.
Two in Five Union Members Say Membership Is ‘Extremely Important’
Among union members, two in five (40%) rate their membership as “extremely important,” or as a 5 on a five-point scale, with another 28% rating it a 4. In contrast, just one in 10 rate it as “not important at all,” a rating of 1 on the scale.
Union members were also asked which of various potential reasons for joining a union are most important to them. Their top answers are better pay and benefits (65%) and employee rights and representation (57%).
More than a third of union members cite job security (42%) and better pension and retirement benefits (34%) as reasons for joining a labor union. Meanwhile, about one in four list improving the work environment (25%) and fairness and equality at work (23%).
Few members select health and safety (9%) or unions having a positive effect on the country (5%) as reasons to join.
All in all, this is good news.