Public approval of labor unions remains high at 68% of U.S. adults, within a five-year range of 67–71% last seen in the early 1960s. Partisan splits are pronounced: 90% approval among Democrats, 69% among independents, and 41% among Republicans, down from 49% in 2025 and a 56% peak in 2022. The pandemic spurred renewed empathy for workers and a surge in organizing that sustained broad approval. The current administration has enacted multiple anti-labor measures, prompting legal challenges and resistance from unions, even as some unions and members back specific administration policies like tariffs.
By the numbers: 41% of Republicans said they approve of labor unions, down from 49% in 2025 and off anall-time high of 56% in 2022, when American support for unions was peaking. Unions got 90% approval from Democrats and 69% among independents. The big picture: Overall, approval for unions among all Americans has been high since the pandemic sparked a renewed empathy for workers, and drove a surge in organizing.
Since regaining office, Trump has put through a flurry of anti-labor measures - including stripping federal workers of their union protections, kneecapping the National Labor Relations Board and backing a major merger over the objections of the Steelworkers union. And unions have been perhaps the most forceful resistors to the administration, repeatedly heading to court to block the administration's actions.
The other side: To be sure, Trump does have support among several unions and their members, as he noted at a cabinet meeting earlier this week. Many unions are particularly supportive of his tariff policy. "The auto workers - the Teamsters voted for me," he said. "No Republican has ever gotten the support of the Teamsters and the auto workers." "I mean, it's so amazing," he added.
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