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Support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a 57-year high, 

Seventy-one percent of Americans now approve of labor unions — up from last year's 68 percent. Union support is also up from 64 percent, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and is the highest the polling firm has recorded since 1965.

Support for unions was highest in the 1950s, according to the Gallup, when 3 in 4 Americans approved of labor organizations.

union drives are on a slight upswing as a recent surge in organizing activity continues at some of the biggest companies

 have unionized in a demand for higher wages and better working conditions. 

Though fulfillment centers and coffee shop chains are some of

the newer spots to organize, the Gallup poll found that union membership is still largest in long-unionized industries. The organization says membership "is highest among front-line and production workers";

Following those workers are health care and social assistance professionals, 13 percent of whom are

collar workers (at 11 percent), and then administrative and clerical staff (at 10 percent). 

Support for unions maybe be at a record high, but the number of those who can actually say they are members of a union are still quite low, when compared to decades past.

number of workers belonging to unions is at 14 million — or 10.3 percent. That is down from 10.8 percent in 2020. In 1983, the earliest year with comparable membership data, around 20 percent of workers were in unions, BLS said.  

Business and Economic News

Jaclyn Diaz

Author

A new poll from Gallup shows that support for unions is the highest it's been since 1965. This comes as workers at companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Chipotle have lately launched union drives.

Support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a 57-year high

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