Dive brief:
- Approval of unions has increased in the United States, despite the fact that union members are not in order. In Gallup’s annual report, an all-time high of 61% of respondents said Unions “help rather than hurt” the economy.
- Also, a record 43% of respondents said they want unions to have more even influence in the US, according to the Jan. 23 report.
- However, while 34% predict that unions will be even “stronger” in the future (compared to 20% of respondents who held this view over the past two decades), union membership is a historic low.
Diving knowledge:
Using data from the US Census Bureau, Gallup noted that the current union membership rate, as a percentage of the workforce, is the lowest it has been since 1983, when it was 20%. In the most recent data (2022) used in the Gallup analysis, the rate was 10%.
Falling union membership rates can be misleading. Last year, BLS reported that rates fell; a closer look reveals it increased union membership along with the number of people participating in the workforce. In other words: labor force participation outpaced the number of people who joined unions (a 3.9% increase versus a 1.9% increase).
The BLS, which published his last analysis on January 23reported that last year’s numbers remain relatively unchanged from the previous year.
Still, while the rate of union membership is declining, Gallup said, “membership is growing in value” for those who are currently members. Now 50% of unionized workers, up from 40% previously, said their membership is “extremely important” to them.
“More engaged unions and growing public support are likely to strengthen unions in the U.S. workforce and economy for the foreseeable future,” the researchers said.
