union approval
[I don’t think it requires a subscription to get the full report,
where there are tables, graphs, and a full history going back to
1936: http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=24343.]
September 01, 2006 Most Americans Approve of Labor Unions Say unions benefit the economy, union workers
by Lydia Saad GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ — AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is making the case
this Labor Day for a change of power in Congress and for expanding
the labor movement. Sweeney heralds new census statistics that show
real median earnings for working Americans falling in recent years at
the same time that the U.S. economy, worker productivity, and
corporate profits have grown. The challenging backdrop for Sweeney’s
campaign is that, according to Gallup’s annual Work and Education
survey, only 9% of Americans say they belong to a union. At the same
time, most Americans approve of unions and applaud the job they do
for their members.
Labor Day was first observed more than 100 years ago, and most states
were quick to recognize it as an official holiday. That momentum is a
distant memory today as only 13% of working Americans tell Gallup
that they personally belong to a labor union, and just 17% of all
Americans report living in a household in which at least one person
belongs to a union. These figures are down sharply from reported
figures from the mid-20th century, when more than 30% of U.S. workers
belonged to a union. Even as recently as 1983, more than 20% were
members.
Public reaction to labor unions is one of the longest running trends
The Gallup Poll maintains. The question “Do you approve or disapprove
of labor unions?” was first asked in 1936, a year after Congress
passed the Wagner Act establishing the right of most private-sector
employees to join unions, to bargain collectively with their
employers, and to strike. That first poll found 72% of Americans
approving of unions and only 20% disapproving.
Broad support has been maintained ever since, although to varying
degrees. Approval of unions was greatest in the 1950s (coincident
with the peak of union membership in the United States), when the
approval figure reached 75%. The low point was 55%, recorded in the
late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, perceptions of labor unions are
still positive but on the lower end of the range, with 59% approving
and 29% disapproving.
There is some variation in public support for unions, particularly
based on political orientation. Three in four Democrats (76%), but
only 42% of Republicans, say they approve of labor unions. Consistent
with geographic patterns in partisanship, approval is higher in the
East (67%) and West (64%) than in the Midwest (57%) or South (52%).
Lower-income Americans are more supportive than either middle- or
upper-income Americans.
Most Consider Unions a Positive
Despite labor’s small membership base today, most Americans not only
approve of labor unions but also believe unions are generally helpful
to workers who are union members, helpful to companies where workers
are organized, and helpful to the economy. Only when it comes to the
interests of non-unionized workers does a majority of Americans
believe unions are harmful.
Seven in 10 Americans (71%) believe unions mostly help unionized
workers, while 21% think they mostly hurt them. At least half of
Americans also believe unions are mostly helpful to the companies
where workers are unionized (50%) and to the U.S. economy in general
(53%). However, only 33% of Americans believe unions mostly help
workers who are not unionized; the majority (51%) say unions mostly
hurt these workers. None of these attitudes has changed appreciably
since first measured in 2001.
Naturally, adults living in union households are more positive than
members of non-union households about the value of unions on all of
these dimensions. Still, a solid majority of those in non-union
households believe that unions are mostly beneficial to union workers.
Who Belongs?
Approximately one in eight working adults in the United States (13%)
belongs to a labor union, which translates into 9% of all Americans.
Union membership skews heavily toward government-sector jobs, in
large part because of teachers’ unions.
Only 16% of all U.S. workers surveyed by Gallup are employed by the
government at any level (federal, state, or local), compared with 39%
of unionized workers.