Many posts have discussed labor unions.
As Americans prepare to celebrate Labor Day, 68% of U.S. adults approve of labor unions, essentially unchanged from last year’s reading. This is the fifth consecutive year that approval of organized labor has been in the 67% to 71% range, a level last reached in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
When Gallup first measured Americans’ ratings of labor unions in 1936, 72% approved. Approval reached the record high, 75%, in 1953 and 1957 and ranged between 63% and 73% from 1958 through 1967. Then, from 1972 through 2016, approval was lower, with few readings over 60%, including the 48% all-time low recorded in 2009. This was the only time approval fell below the majority level. Since 2017, approval has been above 60%, the longest period at this level since the 1960s.
The latest data, from Gallup’s Aug. 1-20 poll, show a continued wide divergence in partisans’ views of unions, as 90% of Democrats, 69% of independents and 41% of Republicans express approval. All party groups show increased support for unions compared with 2016, though Republican support has declined since peaking at 56% in 2022. That was the only time Republicans’ approval has risen above 50% in the past 25 years.
