Poll: Americans' view of labor unions improving

Nearly six in 10 Americans have a favorable view of labor unions, according to the results of a new Gallup survey released Monday.

Approval of unions jumped to 58 percent this year, an increase of five percentage points from 2014, though still well below the 75 percent organized labor enjoyed in the early 1950s but greater than the 48 percent who approved in 2009 in the grips of the recession.


Overall, 37 percent of Americans said they wanted unions to have more influence on the political process, while 35 percent wanted less influence and 24 percent wanted more of the same. The percentage of Americans saying they want more union influence on politics has slightly risen since 2009, with a similar share among Americans wanting less labor influence declining.

Regardless, the share of Americans wanting unions to maintain the same level of influence has mostly declined since the turn of the millennium.

Breaking down the results by gender, a greater share of women than men expressed approval of unions and also said they wanted them to have more influence (63 percent to 52 percent approval; 41 percent to 33 percent on influence). Young adults, aged 18 to 34, had more positive opinions about labor unions as well. On a regional basis, the South is the only area of the country where a majority of respondents said they did not approve of labor unions.

Nearly eight in ten Democrats (79 percent) approve of unions, compared to 52 percent of independents and 42 percent of Republicans.

The latest results come as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fight to win the endorsements of prominent unions.

Last week, the former secretary of state gained the support of both the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the American Federation of Teachers, while National Nurses United declared that it was backing the Vermont senator.

The poll was conducted as part of Gallup’s annual Work and Education Survey from Aug. 5-9 via landlines and cellphones, surveying 1,011 adults nationwide, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.