Labor Day: Union Approval Rating Continues to Skyrocket

During the State of the Unions address this week, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond emphasized how critical the union vote will be in deciding who wins the 2024 election up and down the ballot. “We are the ones who are going to decide this election,” said Shuler. “In these swing states – like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, that are gonna come down to 1 percent, 2 percent – union voters are 20 percent of the electorate.” 

She also pointed out that workers in the labor movement are “force multipliers” during elections because they come together as union households. Workers can leverage this intergenerational power by teaching younger members of their families about the importance of labor unions. The Labor Heritage Foundation has a special song playlist to help get started.

“I teach my grandchildren to stand up for themselves and care about others,” says long-time labor activist Karen Nussbaum.  “That's Union 101.  But how do I teach them they are part of a long tradition of fighting alongside others for what's right and are part of a big union family?  Union songs for kids!  If you've got them singing 'you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union' at 5, you've got them for life.”