Union Approval Rebounds Across All Parties

Labor Day is this Monday in the United States, marking the unofficial end of summer. The federal holiday was created 125 years ago when President Grover Cleveland signed a law establishing Labor Day.

At the municipal and state level, many believe that Peter J. McGuire helped organize early efforts to make Labor Day a holiday. McGuire was the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and the co-founder of one of the major unions American Federation of Labor, which now is AFL-CIO. Some believe that Matthew Maguire, a member of the Central Labor Union, organized the first Labor Day celebrations. Either way, union leadership was one of the initial forces behind making Labor Day a federal holiday.

Over the past decade, approval of labor unions has surged by about 16-17 percentage points across all parties, according to Gallup. Democrats are still more likely to support unions, with approval standing at around 80 percent among self-identified party supporters. A little under half of Republicans now support unions, up from 29 percent of Republicans holding that position in 2009. Overall, unions enjoy a 64 percent approval rate among people in the United States.