Washington, DC – Public approval of labor unions is at its highest point in almost 15 years, according to a Gallup poll released Aug. 30. The survey, conducted Aug. 2-6, found that 61% of respondents said they approve of labor unions, up from 56% last year and the highest since the 65% approval recorded in 2003. The percentage seeing unions favorably peaked at 75% in the mid-1950s and generally stayed above 60% for the next five decades, but it plummeted to 48% in 2009. Opinions were sharply divided along partisan lines, with 81% of Democrats but only 42% of Republicans backing unions, which Gallup said: “means that solid union support may never return to the levels seen from the 1930s to the 1960s.” The poll also found that by a 39%-28% margin, Americans would like unions to have more rather than less influence, the highest pro-union figure Gallup has recorded in the 18 years it has asked this question—but that by a 46%-22% margin, they thought unions would become weaker rather than stronger in the future. Read more
