US opinion of unions

There seems to be a common view that unions are in decline. The US has a very low unionisation rate compared to most developed capitalist countries. In the US rates have been declining so it is not surprising that most Americans think that unions will be weaker in the future. The gains of unions have many times been reversed by globalisation and low wage competition that have strengthened the powers of corporations against US workers.



August 31, 2007
Sixty Percent of Americans Approve of Labor Unions
Little changed in recent years

by Joseph Carroll
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's annual Work and Education survey finds
little change during the past several years in Americans' opinions
about labor unions, with 60% of Americans now approving of unions.
Less than one in five Americans say labor unions in this country will
become stronger in the future, and only about one in three say they
would like to see labor unions have more influence. The percentage of
Americans who say they want unions to have more influence is on the
high end of what Gallup has measured in the past eight years, but
down slightly after peaking in 2006. Only about 1 in 10 Americans say
they personally belong to a labor union.

Public Approval of Labor Unions

According to the Aug. 13-16, 2007, poll, 60% of Americans say they
approve of labor unions, while 32% disapprove. The public's approval
rating of labor unions has not shown much significant change in the
past four years. From a longer term perspective, a majority of
Americans have consistently approved of labor unions since Gallup
first asked this question more than 70 years ago in 1936 (making this
one of Gallup's longest-running trend questions). The highpoint in
approval occurred in the mid-1950s, with a 75% rating in 1953 and
again in 1957. The low point was 55% in 1979 and 1981.

Since Americans' overall approval of unions has shown little change
in recent years, Gallup combined the results of its past three
surveys -- from August 2005, August 2006, and August 2007 -- to
better understand which groups of Americans are more inclined than
others to positively assess labor unions.

Overall, these results show that 9% of Americans are personally
members of a labor union. Another 7% have a spouse or other household
members who belong to a union.

As would be expected, labor union approval is much higher among those
residing in union households (82%) than those who are not living in
union households (55%).

Labor unions have historically been aligned with the Democratic
Party, and the current analysis underscores this relationship. Twenty-
two percent of Democrats reside in a labor union household, compared
with 17% of independents and 12% of Republicans. Further, Democrats
(78%) across the country are significantly more likely than
independents (58%) or Republicans (41%) to say they approve of labor
unions.

The Future of Unions

The poll also updated trends that ask Americans about the future
strength and influence of unions in this country.

Just 19% of Americans say labor unions will be stronger in the future
than they are today, while 45% say they will be weaker and 31% say
they will be the same as today. Perceptions that unions will become
stronger in the future have gradually declined since this question
was first asked in 1999; but still, the highest percentage of
Americans ever saying that unions would become stronger was 25% (in
1999).

Americans residing in union households are more likely than those
living in non-union households to say unions will be stronger in the
future -- which is not surprising -- but a plurality of both groups
say unions will be weaker.

Nearly half of Republicans say unions will be weaker in the future.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say unions will be
stronger in the future, but still only 26% of Democrats share that
view.

When asked about their own preferences, 35% of Americans say they
would like to see labor unions in this country have more influence
than they currently have today, while 28% say less influence and 33%
say the same amount of influence. Last year marked the high point in
public preferences for more influential unions (38%), but even with a
slight decline this year, support for more influential unions is on
the high end of what Gallup has observed since 1999.

A slim majority of those residing in union households (52%) say they
would like unions to have more influence in the future; only 32% of
those in non-union households say this.

More than half of Democrats believe unions should have more influence
in the future, something with which only 16% of Republicans agree.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,019 national adults,
aged 18 and older, conducted Aug. 13-16, 2007. For results based on
the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence
that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical
difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into
the findings of public opinion polls.
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