The number of workers under union contracts rose to a 16-year high in 2025, despite the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About 16.5 million workers are covered by a union contract in 2025, up from 16 million in 2024 and the highest level since 2009. This increase is due to workers becoming members of unions – 14.7 million US workers are union members in 2025, up from 14.2 million workers in 2024.
The percentage of all workers in the US covered by union contracts increased to 11.2% in 2025, compared to 11.1% in 2024. Union membership increased from 9.9% in 2024 to 10% in 2025.
Union density in the US has declined sharply in recent decades from 30% in the late 1940s and 50s. Despite the decline, public acceptance of labor unions has increased in recent years. Approval of unions now hovers between 67% and 71%, according to Gallup, levels last reached in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
“The second Trump administration has launched the most vicious attack on public sector union workers since the Reagan era. While the full impact of the attack remains to be seen, the numbers from 2025 leave room for cautious optimism,” Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) researcher Haley Brown said in a statement on union density growth.
The Trump administration is pushing to cancel collective bargaining agreements for about 1 million federal workers, which would offset these meager gains.
Heidi Schierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist of the US Department of Labor, called the increase of 463,000 union-represented workers the largest number in the US in 16 years.
“This is a very welcome departure from the decline of previous years,” Schierholz posted on Bluesky. “In times of fear, uncertainty and hardship, workers realize they are better off unionized. Workers have control over their jobs and their lives through unions. This is evident in the federal government, where unions have grown despite unprecedented attacks.”
She noted that 2025 is “years of hard work. Running and winning union elections is a long process, and the foundation laid over many years certainly contributed to this year’s gains.”
