After witnessing a surge in union activity among long-term care workers this summer, operators may not be surprised to learn that Americans’ support of labor unions has hit its highest point since 1965.
A new Gallup poll has found that 71% of Americans now approve of unions, compared with 64% before the pandemic. Those positive feelings already were on the rise before COVID-19 hit, and they continued to grow as unemployment rates fell, changing the balance of power between employers and employees, Justin McCarthy of Gallup reported in an analysis published last week. The first six months of 2021 alone saw a 57% increase in union election petitions filed.
Union membership is highest (20%) among front-line and production workers, the new poll data show, with 13% of healthcare workers holding a union card. Poll respondents said that better pay and benefits (65%) and employee rights and representation (57%) were their top reasons for signing up.
Union membership doesn’t necessarily translate into employee engagement, however. Only 27% told pollsters that they were engaged at work, compared with 33% of nonunion members. And 24% said that they are actively disengaged at work, compared with 17% of their nonunion peers. But union workers also are less likely to leave, with 43% reporting that they are actively looking for a new job versus 50% of nonunion workers.
In the long-term care industry, new union action among workers may be the result of a “distinct uptick in organizing in healthcare,” spurred by complaints about chronic understaffing, long hours and perceived lack of appreciation from management, Mark Tabakman, a labor and employment lawyer, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
Moving forward, employers of unionized workers “will need to find ways to improve their engagement,” wrote Gallup’s McCarthy.
