The Majority of Non-Union Professionals Support Unionization
Even as the overall rate of union membership decreases each year, the same cannot be said for actual support of unions even among those who don’t wear a blue collar.
A recent national survey sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees (DPE) found that the majority of non-union professionals support the idea of union representation in their workplaces.
The survey was conducted in October 2016, and poll takers interviewed 1,004 professional employees who are not currently represented by a labor union. Over half of these workers said that they would support a union in their workplace and that union representation would improve their salaries as well as their health and retirement benefits.
Well, hot damn! Workers want to be treated with dignity? You don’t say!
“Most professionals want and deserve a raise,” DPE President Paul Almeida stated regarding the survey’s findings. “Professionals realize that by coming together in union they can earn better pay, benefits, and working conditions.”
Even among those 441 workers surveyed who did not voice support for a union in their workplace, the dissent was not strong, and the majority of them admitted to not knowing much about unions and the benefits they provide. This opens up opportunity for labor activists to bring these folks over into the light as blue collar jobs become scarce and as industries such as technology and healthcare rise up with an educated work force.
“By providing more information about the advantages of a collective voice and demonstrating success through improving wages and benefits, union organizers can overcome many of the concerns disapprovers have about unions,” Almeida said.
