On the heels of Labor Day, a new Gallup poll shows Americans are giving labor unions a big thumbs up. The poll shows that 71% of Americans approve of labor unions, while 47% want unions to have more influence.
Americans’ strong desire for unions to gain influence coincides with labor union approval tying its recent high. The current 71% approval rating matches the 2022 reading and extends a six-year period in which approval has stayed between 67% and 71%.
Union approval has risen sharply from the all-time low of 48% recorded in 2009. Approval was only higher than now in the 1950s, when it reached 73% to 75%, and in the initial measure in 1936 (72%).
Full survey results are available on the Gallup website.