EPI's Margaret Poydock on Record Union Growth and Worker Trends

Margaret Poydock, senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss EPI's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that 16.5 million workers were represented by a union in 2025, an increase of 463,000 from 2024 and the highest number of unionized workers in 16 years. The growth was broad-based, spanning the private and public sectors, workers of color, young workers and multiple regions of the country, including a surprising surge in the South.

Poydock also outlined the structural barriers still blocking more than 50 million workers who want a union from getting one and highlighted state-level policy solutions — from banning captive audience meetings to repealing So-Called “Right-To-Work” laws — that are beginning to fill the void left by federal inaction.

• Union representation rose to 11.2 percent of all wage and salary workers in 2025, up from 11.1 percent in 2024, with the increase driven primarily by workers of color, who accounted for nearly 300,000 of the new union members, compared to roughly 170,000 white non-Hispanic workers. Another growth area was among workers under 45, whose union coverage grew by nearly half a million compared to just 35,000 for older workers.
• Despite a government shutdown that eliminated October from the survey data, EPI recalculated 2024 figures on the same basis to ensure an apples-to-apples comparison and expressed confidence that the 2025 increase is real, attributing it to both the surge in federal workers seeking union protection under a hostile administration and to organizing groundwork laid years earlier, finally showing up in the data.
• More than 50 million non-union workers want a union but cannot get one, and 43 percent of non-union workers say they would vote to unionize if given the opportunity — a gap Poydock attributed to decades of federal policy inaction, weak penalties for employer interference and the continued presence of So-Called “Right-To-Work” laws in many states.

The Numbers Tell a Different Story Than the Headlines

At a moment defined by sustained attacks on organized labor, the data points in a different direction. Margaret Poydock, senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to walk through EPI's analysis of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics union membership data, including the headline that surprised even the researchers who produced it.

In 2025, 16.5 million workers were represented by a union. That is an increase of 463,000 from 2024 and the largest number of unionized workers in the United States in 16 years. Union density rose to 11.2% of all wage and salary workers, reversing a decades-long downward trend that had defined the labor movement's statistical picture.

Who Is Driving the Growth

The increase was not concentrated in any single sector or demographic. Workers of color accounted for nearly 300,000 of the new union members, compared to roughly 170,000 white non-Hispanic workers. Black workers now have the highest union density rate of any racial group at 13 percent. Workers under 45 drove nearly half a million of the increase, while workers 45 and older accounted for just 35,000. Young workers between 18 and 35 also registered the highest union favorability rate of any age group at 72 percent. That is a generation that entered the workforce during the pandemic and saw firsthand what union representation could mean for their lives, Poydock said.

Federal employees contributed meaningfully to the increase as well, with union coverage among federal workers rising in 2025 despite — and in many cases because of — the administration's aggressive efforts to eliminate their collectively bargained contracts.

Why Now?

Poydock offered two explanations for the timing of the increase. The first is that workers, particularly federal employees, recognized the value of union membership under a hostile administration and moved to join or strengthen their unions. The second reflects the long arc of organizing. Winning a union election, negotiating a first contract and seeing that work reflected in employment data takes years, she said. Much of what showed up in the 2025 numbers is the fruit of organizing campaigns launched well before 2025, she said.

The Gap Between Wanting a Union and Getting One

The growth is real, but so is the gap. More than 50 million non-union workers want a union but cannot get one. Among non-union workers, 43 percent say they would vote to unionize their workplace if given the chance. That gap, Poydock said, reflects decades of federal policy inaction. That includes labor law that has not been meaningfully updated since 1935, weak or nonexistent financial penalties for employers who interfere with union organizing and So-Called “Right-To-Work” laws in many states that make it harder to build and sustain unions even after workers win recognition.

What States Are Doing About It

With Congress gridlocked, some states are moving. Poydock highlighted several areas of state-level action, including campaigns to expand public-sector collective bargaining rights and new laws extending union rights to agricultural and domestic workers excluded from federal law. There are also a growing number of states banning captive-audience meetings — the mandatory employer-run sessions at which workers are required to sit through anti-union messaging during organizing drives.

Repealing So-Called “Right-To-Work” laws is another lever states have at their disposal. It is one that EPI's report identifies as a meaningful policy solution for sustaining the union growth that the data is beginning to show.

A Surprise From the South

Poydock closed with the finding that surprised her most: in 2025, the South accounted for nearly half of all increases in unionization nationwide. In a region defined by So-Called “Right-To-Work” laws and historically low union density, that figure was unexpected. She was careful to note the smaller regional sample size and said EPI will be watching the trend closely in the years ahead. But the direction is unmistakable. It cuts against every assumption about where union growth can and cannot happen in America, she said.

The full report is available at epi.org.

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