Megan Brenan at Gallup reports as Americans 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 60s. The latest data, from Gallup’s August 1st-20th 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. Approval ratings among Democrats and Independents are well above each group’s average ratings of 79% and 59%, respectively, since 2001. However, approval among Republicans now matches the 25-year average for that group.

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