A newly released poll heading into Labor Day weekend shows a near-record 71% of Americans approve of unions, up from 64% before the pandemic. Yet that Gallup Poll stands in contrast to some raw math: Just 1 in 10 workers on U.S. payrolls are union members, half the level seen four decades ago.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation, wants to bridge that gap – by adding a million new people to union ranks over the next 10 years.
Why We Wrote This
Labor unions are increasingly popular, have a friend in the White House, and see some signs of worker leverage in the job market. The AFL-CIO president says they still have a battle ahead to boost their ranks.
As she spoke at a Monitor Breakfast for reporters on Thursday, it was clear that for her, it is personal.
“My dad grew up in a one-room fruit picking shack in Hood River, Oregon. He and his four siblings often went hungry.” Then he found a union job as a power lineman at Portland General Electric. Beyond the pay, “it also meant dignity and respect. It meant having a voice being heard.”
She says millions of workers are reaching for those same things today.
“We would say that unions are a pillar of a healthy democracy, and we see it around the world that unions have always been sort of bedrock to the foundation of a healthy economy and a healthy society,” Ms. Shuler told reporters.
Washington
A newly released poll heading into Labor Day weekend shows a near-record 71% of Americans approve of labor unions, up from 64% just before the pandemic. Yet that Gallup poll stands in contrast to some raw math: Just 1 in 10 workers on U.S. payrolls are union members, half the level seen four decades ago.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation, wants to bridge that gap – starting by adding a million new people to union ranks over the next 10 years.
As she spoke at a Monitor Breakfast for reporters on Thursday, it was clear that for her, it is personal. It’s about her own story, and the life stories of people she has met, some of whom leave memories that make her voice quake with emotion.
Why We Wrote This
Labor unions are increasingly popular, have a friend in the White House, and see some signs of worker leverage in the job market. The AFL-CIO president says they still have a battle ahead to boost their ranks.
“My dad grew up in a one-room fruit picking shack in Hood River, Oregon. He and his four siblings often went hungry.” That all changed for her family in one generation, she said, because her dad found a union job as a power lineman at Portland General Electric.
Beyond the pay, “it also meant dignity and respect. It meant having a voice being heard.”
Fast-forward through the decades, and she says millions of workers are reaching for those same things today. She draws a line from hope for dignity to hope for U.S. democracy.
“We would say that unions are a pillar of a healthy democracy, and we see it around the world that unions have always been sort of bedrock to the foundation of a healthy economy and a healthy society,” Ms. Shul