The number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About 16.5 million workers were covered by a union contract in 2025, up from 16 million in 2024 and the highest level since 2009. The increase stems from workers joining unions as members – 14.7 million US workers were union members in 2025, up from 14.2 million workers in 2024.
The percentage of all workers in the US covered by a union contracts ticked up to 11.2% in 2025, compared with 11.1% in 2024. Union membership increased from 9.9% in 2024 to 10% in 2025.
Union density in the US has declined drastically in recent decades from above 30% in the late 1940s and 50s. Despite the decline, public approval of labor unions has increased in recent years. Approval of unions now ranges between 67% and 71%, according to Gallup, levels last reached in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
“The second Trump administration launched the most vicious attack on public sector union workers since the Reagan era. While the assault’s full effect remains to be seen, the numbers from 2025 leave room for cautious optimism,” said Hayley Brown, a researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), in a statement on the union density increase.
The Trump administration is pushing to cancel collective bargaining agreements for about 1 million federal workers, which would offset these slight gains.
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist off the US Department of Labor, noted the increase of 463,000 workers represented by a union is the highest number in the US in 16 years.
“This is an extremely welcome departure from prior years’ declines,” Shierholz posted on Bluesky. “In a time of fear, uncertainty, and hardship, workers are realizing they are better off in a union. Workers are exerting control over their jobs and their lives through unionization. This is especially clear in the federal government, where unionization surged despite unprecedented attacks.”
She cited the increases in 2025 to “years of sustained effort. Organizing and winning union elections is a lengthy process, and the groundwork laid over many years definitely contributed to this year’s gains.”
