Unions are the only major social institution whose public respect is on the rise

WASHINGTON (PAI)—Former AFL-CIO Political Director Michael Podhorzer posted the following interesting graphic on his Twitter/X feed. Unions get more respect, and other institutions get less.

Podhorzer noted that since the Great Recession 15 years ago, respect for the union movement has skyrocketed, to a near-record high this year of 70%. The gap between respect and disrespect, though Podhorzer didn’t say so, is now a record +47 percentage points.

While respect for organized labor rose sharply, the respect for all but one other major institution in society plummeted—his word—during those same years. The exception, small business, had a slight decline. “You probably haven’t heard just how big a deal that is in the context of the last 15 years,” he adds about labor’s big gain. The chart is above, with Gallup poll figures.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Press Associates

Press Associates Inc. (PAI), is a union news service in Washington D.C. Mark Gruenberg is the editor.