National survey finds more professionals want a union

Washington – The percentage of non-union professionals who want to form a union in their workplace increased to 65 percent in 2022, according to a survey commissioned by the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE). Additionally, 63 percent of those who would support a union at work said they would talk to their coworkers about forming a union in the next year.

DPE last commissioned a survey of non-union professionals’ attitudes towards unions in 2016. Then, 60 percent of professionals surveyed said they would support a proposal for a union.

“Professionals continue to want a union,” said DPE President Jennifer Dorning. “Even before the pandemic a majority of professionals were supportive of forming a union in their workplace, and now, with changes in work and the economy, more professionals recognize the need for a legally protected say in workplace decisions with a union.”

EVEN HIGHER AMONG SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS
For specific demographic groups, support for forming a union was even higher, with 82 percent of Black or African American respondents and 76 percent of Hispanic or Latino respondents saying they would support a union proposal in their workplace. Young professionals also viewed unionizing more favorably with 74 percent of respondents 18 to 34 years old saying they would approve of an effort to form a union in their workplace.

EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE
Professionals employed in education and healthcare had the highest levels of union support among specific occupation groups, with 75 percent of education professionals and 71 percent of healthcare professionals saying they would approve a proposal for a union in their workplace. Computer and math professionals’ support for joining together in union has increased drastically over the years. DPE first surveyed computer and math professionals in 2005 and found that 33 percent would support a union in their workplace. In 2016, computer and math professionals’ union support increased to 59 percent, and now it has reached 62 percent.

KEY FINDINGS
Other key survey findings include:

• 78 percent of professionals would be in favor of joining together in a union to improve salaries and raises.
• Of professionals who were not required to perform in-person work during the first year of the pandemic, 69 percent said it was important that their union would work to improve work from home policies.
• When it came to professionals’ attitudes toward management, nearly 45 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the salaries paid to executives compared to their own.
• A majority of those surveyed knew at most only a little about unions.

“Worker activism and the many recent organizing wins have helped return unions to the center of the national conversation about how Americans can improve their workplaces and their lives,” said Dorning. “However, too many professionals still don’t know how to take steps to form their own union in their workplace, which means we still have work to do to educate employees about the process of joining together in union and the benefits of a union contract.”

DPE commissioned the research firm Clarity Campaign Labs to conduct the scientific survey of non-union professionals in late summer 2022. The survey contains responses from a representative sample of over 1,800 non-union professionals from across the U.S.