Americans have an increasingly positive view of unions and nearly half of U.S. adults believe they should have more influence, a new survey found.
The Gallup Poll found that 47 percent of Americans believe that unions should have more influence. The polling service stated that this was the highest level in more than 25 years.
At the same time, the number of people who said that unions should have less influence fell to a record low of 23 percent. About 26 percent of respondents said that nothing should change.
The desire for stronger unions corresponds with a rise in overall approval of the organizations. The approval rating of unions was 71 percent, and that figure has risen consistently since 2009 when unions hit an all-time approval low of 48 percent.
There is a partisan divide, with far more Democrats wanting unions to have more influence.
"Democrats account for the entire increase since 2023 in Americans' desire for unions to have more influence. Currently, 73% of Democrats hold this view, up 12 points from 61% and the highest Gallup has measured for the group," the poll stated.
By comparison, independents and Republicans clock in at 45 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Although the vast majority of Republicans do not believe unions should have more influence, the percentage is up from 2012 when only 9 percent of Republicans supported stronger union influence.
In 2001, 19 percent of Republicans supported stronger union influence, but that figure trended downward until 2012, when the trend reversed. Today, Republicans are about where they were 25 years ago.
Similarly, when it comes to approval of unions. Republicans had trended down from 2003 when 50 percent approved of unions, until 2011 when only 26 percent of party members approved. Since then, approval among Republicans has generally trended upward, reaching 52 percent this year.
For Democrats, approval of unions reached a low point in 2009 of 66 percent but has hovered around 90 percent in recent years. Approval among independents has steadily risen since a low point in 2009, reaching 70 percent in 2026.
"[T]he balance of public opinion about union strength has shifted, from preferring that unions lose influence to wanting them to gain it. The latest increase in desire for greater union influence is driven by Democrats, but the preference extends beyond them — including to independents, union non-members and most major demographic groups," the poll found.
