Sorry, Union Execs—Americans Are Just Not That into You

Americans claim to love labor unions. But this affection is not unlike their love for other people’s kids: more hypothetical than real.

A new survey performed by Gallup suggests support for unions remains high this Labor Day, with close to 70 percent of respondents stating they “approve” of labor unions. Yet, the same poll indicates very few of these respondents have first-hand experience with unions: 82 percent said that neither they nor anyone else in their household is a union member.

Despite this disparity, union advocates insist that widespread approval of unions should translate into more union members. However, much to the chagrin of union executives nationwide, union membership has reached an all-time low, with about 10 percent of American workers represented by a union. Americans may approve of unions—but not enough to join them.

Instead of concluding that workers approve of unions for others but don’t need or want unions for themselves, union advocates blame legal obstacles designed to protect businesses and workers alike. Right or wrong in their assumptions, union executives are on a mission to change the rules surrounding unionization. And they are doing so by boosting organizing campaigns and forcing unionization on workers who never asked for it.

This Labor Day, it’s worth examining how these executives have fared in putting their thumb on the scale of unionization.

At the federal level, union organizers have run into unprecedented roadblocks at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). For four years, the NLRB bent over backwards to help unions under the former President Joe Biden’s administration. Now, under President Donald Trump, the NLRB hasn’t had the quorum necessary to issue decisions since March (and now has just one of five members). As a result, unions cannot fully prosecute cases against employers. Meanwhile, the NLRB’s general counsel has rolled back many Biden-era rulings, and federal courts have questioned the fundamental constitutionality of the NLRB.

Instead, union leaders are winning big in deeply blue states where political investments are reaping an incredible return. Just weeks ago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker held a bill-signing ceremony at the state AFL-CIO headquarters, where he signed union-friendly bills. These bills nullify Trump’s federal reforms in Illinois—businesses and taxpayers be damned. At the same time, New York and California are moving bills designed to allow unions to organize under state law without the NLRB’s permission.

Even in red states, unions have beaten back popular reforms meant to protect workers who don’t want to see a union take over their workplace. Utah, for example, enacted a bill that would affirmatively outlaw collective bargaining in the public sector, something that wasn’t actually authorized in state law anyway. Union leaders, sensing a movement, lost their minds: Millions of union dollars flooded into the state to gather signatures for a referendum to repeal the law on the next ballot.

In Iowa and Louisiana, two widely supported bills promoting public employees’ choice—specifically, which unions can represent them—dropped dead. Unions reacted to these measures as if it were doomsday, suggesting that greater accountability might spell the end of union representation for most workers. In reality, these measures did little more than allow workers to choose a new union or withdraw their membership if they weren’t satisfied with union representation. These fights will surely resume next legislative session.

As our proverbial laboratories of democracy, states remain the most critical place to curb union overreach and protect workers’ rights. In fact, before Labor Day became a federal holiday at the end of the 18th century, it was a state-recognized holiday, observed in a majority of the 44 states then in existence. In the decades that followed, the federal government would assert increasing involvement in labor policy, despite some states’ efforts to end child labor, impose wage controls, and limit working hours.

For you, this Labor Day is likely about family, food, and relaxation. Chances are, you’re not in a union, and neither is anyone in your family. But for unions, Labor Day is another day to resent your choice of not joining their ranks.