The annual Gallup poll about major U.S. institutions reveals an unsurprising decrease in confidence in fifteen influential entities, including the presidency, the Supreme Court, Congress, tech companies, and organized religion. In fact, American confidence in institutions now sits at an all-time low, with the exception of one area – organized labor.
In 2021 and 2022, 28% of those polled expressed significant confidence in organized labor with Democrats (especially younger workers) characteristically showing more union confidence (41%) than Republicans (15%) and Independents (27%). Those poll numbers, however, don’t reflect the reality of organized labor in the U.S.
Big Labor’s numbers continue to fall to abysmal levels with 2021 yielding 10.3% total union membership in the U.S. workforce (private-sector membership: 6.1%). That’s a tie for a record low, and although high profile organizing campaigns make big headlines, the number of union petitions aren’t breaking organizing records in 2022.
