On Labor Day, I am happy to bring you this small bit of good news. The approval of labor unions is rising, and currently they have the approval of 56% of Americans.
The Republicans have been trying to demonize labor unions for decades now. They want you to believe that employers are generous, and would give their workers generous wage increases out of the goodness of their hearts. That is a ludicrous position. Very few, if any, employers would do that. What they will do is pay the least amount of money, and offer workers the fewest benefits, they can get away with.
For a while, that worked. The American people were deluded and the popularity of labor unions decreased. But it looks like the American people are beginning to open their eyes. They are starting to once again realize that labor unions are good for all workers, even those not in a union (because they drive up wages and benefits for everyone).
They are also starting to understand that labor unions are good for the economy. It was labor unions that were largely responsible for the creation of a healthy middle class in this country -- and as union power decreased, so did the size of the middle class. Labor unions are essential to a thriving economy.
The charts above are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between August 3rd and 7th of a random national sample of 1,032 adults, and has a margin of error of 4 points.
