U.S. workers’ unionization up last year – and the news is even better than the numbers

New data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows union representation grew by 463,000 in 2025, bringing the total number of workers represented by union contracts to 16.5 million.

Beyond the statistics, related trends show other good news for organized labor.

“Thanks to years of sustained organizing, 11.2% of all wage and salary workers in the United States are now covered under union contracts, up from 2024 and the highest in 16 years,” the AFL-CIO said.

Last year’s numbers show the highest number of unionized workers in the U.S. in 16 years, reported the Economic Policy Institute.

“The increase is a departure from prior years’ downward trend in union density,” write EPI’s Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock and Heidi Shierholz. “It demonstrates working people’s desire for greater agency in their workplaces and in shaping the policies that affect their lives. In a time of fear, uncertainty and hardship, the importance and benefits of unionization are especially clear. Further, this increase occurred despite the nation’s broken system of labor law and the most anti-union president in history. It is a testament to working people’s resolve and the fact that unions are increasingly viewed favorably and recognized as critical instruments for building a just economy.”

The growth in unionization in 2025 occurred despite President Trump’s relentless attacks on workers and their unions. Since returning to office, President Trump has engaged in a consistent campaign against U.S. workers, making their lives less affordable in the process. From stripping federal workers’ collective bargaining rights to canceling federal collective bargaining contracts.

“Billionaire bosses and union-busting politicians have tried to throw the kitchen sink at working people and their unions – slashing our jobs and rigging the rules to scare us out of organizing— but they are failing,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Working people are experiencing relentless attacks on our freedoms and our livelihoods. These numbers confirm what we’ve seen in the labor movement: Workers have felt President Trump’s billionaire-first agenda in action and are hungry to take back their power.

“Workers know that the best check on a bad boss is a strong union contract,” she continued. “In 2026, workers will continue to organize in every corner of the country and build power to fight for the lives they deserve.”

Unionization among state and local government workers increased  from 37.1% to 37.6%, an increase of 196,000 unionized workers. (BLS’ reference to “unionization,” it should be noted, means representation, not membership. In other words, the number includes non-member “free riders” in the public sector and Right To Work [for less] states, where workers are permitted to benefit from union representation in bargaining wages,

However, private-sector union coverage last year also rose – by 227,000, pushing the unionization rate up from 6.7% to 6.8%. Within the private sector, there were particularly large gains in health care and social assistance, retail trade, and educational services. In addition, organized labor overall is made up of a cross-section of the nation: About one-third (32%) of unionized workers are white non-Hispanic men, and roughly two-thirds (68%) are women and racial minorities. Also, younger workers have a “heightened organizing activity,” EPI said. “Union coverage among workers under age 45 increased by 428,000, compared with an increase of 35,000 among workers age 45 and over.”

Elsewhere, labor scholar and historian Lane Windham of Georgetown University, a former labor organizer, stresses significant positives beyond BLS data.
“There are promising developments rumbling through unions and other worker-justice organizations that the BLS union survey doesn’t capture,” she wrote in In These Times magazine, listing five:

* “First, many unions have been on the front lines of the pushback to the Trump administration’s policies. Unions like UNITE HERE, SEIU and AFT have been at the head of the march, sponsoring the large-scale No Kings rallies and pushing back against crackdowns by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Unions helped organize and lead the Minneapolis march and strike against ICE in January 23, negotiating with employers to shut down work and filling the streets. After Customs and Border Patrol agents murdered AFGE member and nurse Alex Pretti the day after the march, National Nurses United held a week of vigils and called for the abolishment of ICE. The Sheet Metal Workers joined with others to demand union apprentice Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return after the Trump administration wrongly deported him to El Salvador.

* “Second, there’s even more organizing happening because these [BLS] statistics only capture people who have secured an actual union contract.

* “Third, the union membership statistics don’t capture all of the people who would like to join unions, but who haven’t yet had a chance to do so.

* “Fourth, the BLS union membership statistics do nothing to demonstrate the new forms of worker-justice organizing that have blossomed. The statistics don’t count any of the thousands of workers who marched in the Fight for $15 movement and inspired dozens of states to raise their minimum wage, helping to put as much as $150 billion in workers’ pockets since 2012.

* “Finally, the union member statistics do not capture the widespread changes happening in America’s labor leadership. Over the last five years, more women and people of color have stepped into leadership roles, including at the top of organizations.”

The economic and social climate has helped, and promises to continue.

“Unions have record high public favorability in the United States,” EPI said. “Since 2021, approval for unions has remained high, with over 68% of people in the U.S. viewing unions favorably. This positive view of unions is shared across generations, with majorities of Boomers (59%), Gen X (58%), Millennials (61%), and Gen Z (63%) viewing unions favorably. Young adults (ages 18–35) have the highest favorability rate at 72%. Unions are viewed positively across party lines with Democrats (90%) and Independents (69%) having high favorability rates for unions, and over 40% of Republicans approving of labor unions.”

Of course, legal and political reform is still needed.

Shuler said, “We call on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and to reverse the single largest act of union-busting in American history by passing the Protect America's Workforce Act in the Senate.”

EPI added a few more targets for labor, including:

Ensuring workers can reach a first contract. “Congress should pass legislation that encourages unions and employers to reach a first contract in a timely manner. The National Labor Relations Act requires unions and management to bargain in good faith but does not require that the two sides reach an agreement. As a result, most unions fail to reach a first contract within a year of unionizing. The bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act would establish a mediation-and-binding-arbitration process when employers refuse to bargain in good faith.”

Expand collective bargaining rights to domestic workers, agricultural workers, and app-based/gig workers.

Eliminate so-called right-to-work (RTW) laws. “Twenty-six states currently have anti-union so-called RTW laws, which diminish workers’ collective power by prohibiting unions and employers from negotiating union-security clauses into collective bargaining agreements. This makes it harder for workers to join, form and sustain unions. More states should restore private-sector workers’ full bargaining rights by repealing these anti-union state laws, as Michigan did in 2023