Do Millennials Favor Unions?A Complex Case.

Those of us who have worked in the labor relations industry for some time know that new entrants to the workforce have historically held favorable positions towards unions.

Research backs this evidence showing that favorable opinions of unions grew steadily as Baby Boomers and Generation X entered the workforce. Intuition alongside polls and studies would suggest that Millennials would follow suit, holding positions favorable to unions. A Gallup poll found that 65 percent of workers under 35 approved of unions.

However, the landscape of younger generations is more complicated than it appears. Data from the Wiley paper shows that for young people born between 1993 and 1997, there is indeed increased favorability in the average opinion of unions. What this statement fails to highlight is that the percent of young people with neutral or no opinion on unions has more than doubled, going from 14.5% for those born in 1958 to 32.6%  for those born in 1997. What does this mean? To summarize: nearly one third of Millennials have no opinion on unions, however the other two-thirds  have stronger favorable opinions of unions than was seen with Baby Boomers or Generation X when they were entering the workforce. 

A few other things need to be considered alongside the aforementioned facts. First, there is the reality that union membership has declined significantly over the past few decades. From 1976 to 2015, union membership declined from 22.1% to only 11.1%. Second, the rates of “never-membership”--never having joined a union--has increased significantly over the same period. It is likely that “never-members” account for most of the decline in union membership, as opposed to unions’ members leaving the union. The final aspect to consider is a correlation between liberal, or Democratic political beliefs, and pro-union sentiments. Millennials are widely considered to be the most liberal generation in American history, meaning their collective ideology is likely to push individual Millennials towards being pro-union. 

So what does the intersection of these three facts tell us? Increased “never-membership” means fewer Millennials will form their opinions on unions based upon personal experience. As such, they will likely rely on the personal experience of people in their networks to shape their opinions. However, with decreased union membership across the board, fewer and fewer people will have individuals in their networks who have interacted with union. Thus, Millennials will take the position that aligns with their political beliefs (which tend towards liberalism).

Liberal union beliefs can largely be categorized under the umbrella of “counter-factual idealism”. The term “counter-factual idealism” refers to two phenomena. First, there is the matter of counterfactual. This is the tendency to focus on what is not happening, but what ought to happen. Second, there is the idealism which refers to a tendency to focus on abstract ideals, not on social practices”. This is to say that liberal pro-union sentiments are structured around beliefs of how unions should function, not how they function in reality. Furthermore, liberal pro-union sentiments center the idea of “workers’ rights”, not on the practices of policies in place to benefit workers.

Here at Diverse Workforce Consultants (DWC), we effectively undercut the “counter-factual idealism” of Millennials through the presentation of facts surrounding union corruption, mismanagement and ineffectiveness, which ultimately brings harm to workers.  Furthermore, we can shape the opinions of the 32.4% of Millennials who have not formed an opinion on unions by accurately informing them of the realities of unions. This group, once empowered with the information, can assist in further dismantling the beliefs of their peers if provided an environment where they feel free to communicate their gained insights. 

This is just a sliver of the practices and strategies we utilize at DWC. Our clients have benefited greatly from our strategies both in  short term and long term inoculation from union organizing drives.

If you are interested in learning more about what Diverse Workforce Consultants (DWC) has to offer go to our website diverseworkforceconsultants.com or set up an appointment to speak with us.