Americans approval of labor unions remains high despite economic crisis: poll

National approval of labor unions remains high heading into Labor Day, with 65 percent of Americans supporting the groups, according to a Gallup poll out Thursday. 

The unions’ approval rating is their highest since 2003 and marks a continuation of a relatively steady rise since a low point in 2009, when just 48 percent of Americans approved of them during the Great Recession. 

The unions’ current high approval rating bucks a trend during weak economic times. The unions’ approval peaked in 1953 and 1957 at 75 percent, but fell below 60 percent for the first time during the 1970s and 1980s and hovered around 50 percent in the thick of the Great Recession from 2009 to 2012. The rise in the unions’ approval ratings this year indicates the coronavirus-fueled downturn has not impacted views of the groups. 

Views of unions remain sharply split along partisan lines, though approval has risen across parties in recent years. Eighty-three percent of Democrats say they approve of unions, compared with 45 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents.

“Americans’ continued high approval of unions may result from a current focus on issues other than the economy. Generally, when economic indicators have been negative, the economy has been viewed as the most important problem facing the nation, but that is not the case now,” Gallup reporter Megan Brenan wrote, noting that results are split along five issues when respondents were asked about the biggest problem facing the nation. 

“Yet, if the economy continues to struggle and it eclipses other issues in importance, Americans’ views of unions could very well worsen,” she added.

Overall, 10 percent of Americans surveyed said they are a union member, and 16 percent said there is a union member in their household. 

The Gallup poll surveyed 1,031 adults from July 30-Aug. 12 and its results have a margin of error of 4 percentage points.