Once a powerful force in the American economy, labor unions successfully fought to eliminate child labor, shorten the workday and improve workplace safety, while representing a sizable share of the U.S. workforce.
Yet union membership has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s, when more than one-third of workers were affiliated with a union. By 2021, union membership sat at just 10.3%.
That number doesn’t tell the full story, however: Even as overall membership remains at historical lows, a tight labor market, changing worker expectations and high-profile organizing efforts at the likes of Starbucks, Apple and other companies have sparked an uptick in union activity that is prompting business leaders to reckon with a resurgent labor movement.
This section of the report originally appeared in Middle Market Executive’s Summer 2022 issue. Read the full story in the archive.
Illustrated by Daniel Hertzberg.
The National Labor Relations Board reported that during the first six months of its 2022 fiscal year, labor unions filed 57% more petitions for representation compared with the same period a year before. And unions have become more popular, according to a recent Gallup poll that found that 68% of American citizens approve of unions, the highest share since 1965.
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