Recently Gallup reported that seventy-one percent of Americans now approve of labor unions, slightly higher to last year’s 68%, this is the highest approval since the 1950s, when 73–75% approved;

Nearly half of Americans (47%) want labor unions in the U.S. to have more influence than they do today, a record high in the past quarter century and roughly double the 23% who want unions to have less influence. Another 26% want unions’ influence to remain the same.

The union win rate in NLRB RC (representation-certification) elections was approximately 78% during the first half of calendar year 2026. This was nearly unchanged from the comparable 2025 period. In Q1 alone, the reported rate was 77.5%.

I have also read articles on why the results of these stats should be minimized rather than taken as an important window into the views and emotions of employees and potential organizing targets across the country.

There are many reasons why workers seek out unions and many reasons why the union election win rate is high, too many for more than an overview on this format.

In 2025, there was verry insightful survey done by the law firm Littler Mendelson P.C. about management’s preparedness gap to confront labor union organizing activities.
They identified vulnerabilities for U.S. companies that are not well prepared to manage union-organizing activities based on evidence of a “preparedness gap based on surveys of nearly 800 in-house attorneys, human resources professionals”.

But today’s workforce can be complicated, and I can attest from my former days as national union official that unions follow these trends on a national level.

According to a survey done by the American Psychological Association, “Job insecurity is having a significant impact on a majority of U.S. workers’ (54%) stress levels, according to APA’s 2025 Work in America™ survey. As workers contend with changes in government policy and growing economic uncertainty”

Job security is one of the biggest reasons that workers seek union representation. Workers often experience job insecurity when they doubt the stability, value, or future of their roles. This insecurity can stem from a mix of external, organizational, and personal factors.

One important finding in the APA survey is that workers who were satisfied with their relationship with their manager were less likely to describe their work experience as toxic (10% vs. 55% of workers unsatisfied with their relationship). These workers were also less likely to report concerns about losing their job due to an economic slump (43% vs. 52%) and to say things felt uncertain at their job right now (31% vs. 66%).

This data and common-sense leads to the logical conclusion that employees are more likely to prosper when they have a sense of community at work, Positive, collaborative, and professional relationships will create a productive non-union environment.

Read the full article at: www.linkedin.com