Gallup Poll Shows Americans' Opinion of Labor Unions Grows More Favorable

Nearly six in 10 Americans say in the new Gallup survey of adults nationwide that they view labor unions favorably, and more Americans are saying that they want unions to have more influence on the political process. The increase is a 5 percent improvement in approval, to 58 percent, from 2014.

The new results come at a crucial time for working families. There is a real connection between the decline of bargaining rights and the decline of the middle class. Now, just 6 percent of private sector workers and 35 percent of public workers have bargaining rights. Yet the union advantage is clear: a 10-percentage-point increase in the unionization rate would boost the average annual income for middle-class households—unionized or not—by $1,501 a year, according to a report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.