Americans' approval of labor unions reaches 16-year high

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Sixty-four percent of Americans approve of labor unions, which is among the highest level of support in the past 20 years, a Gallup poll released Wednesday indicates.

The last time support for labor unions reached this high was in 2003 and 1999, with 65 percent.

It has been more than 50 years since the level of support was consistently more than 60 percent. Between 1937 and 1967, union support averaged 68 percent, and after that, the average level of support was 10 points lower.

The lowest point since 1937 came in 2009, when 48 percent of Americans supported labor unions. It's been on an upward trend since then.

"Higher public support for unions in the past few years likely reflects the relatively good economic conditions in place, particularly low unemployment," Gallup said.

"By contrast, the lowest union approval ratings in Gallup history came from 2009 through 2012, years of high unemployment that followed the Great Recession. Gallup also observed relatively low union approval during the poor economic times in the late 1970s and early 1980s."

Unions have their highest support among Democrats at 82 percent. Independents favor unions at 61 percent and Republicans dipped below majority support at 45 percent. All three categories were up by at least 16 percent compared to 2009.

Americans living in households with a union member approve of unions at 86 percents, while non-union households have 60 percent approval.

Gallup released the results of the survey less than a week before Labor Day, which was created in 1882 by President Glover Cleveland to honor the American labor movement.