Frank Manzo, an economist with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the 12th Annual State of the Union Study, produced in coordination with the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Looking at data from 2025, the study found that in the United States, more than 411,000 people joined unions last year, the largest one-year surge in membership since 2008. Manzo said the growth occurred everywhere, but was three times larger in states that protect collective bargaining rights compared to states with So-Called “Right to Work” laws. He discussed the wage premium union membership delivers, the costs that So-Called “Right to Work” laws impose on workers and taxpayers and the demographic groups with the highest unionization rates. He also spoke about the surge in public-sector organizing driven by federal workers responding to the Trump administration's attempt to revoke collective bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal employees.
Manzo said the growth would have been even larger without So-Called “Right to Work” laws. He noted that seven in 10 Americans approve of unions, with a bipartisan majority support that reflects conditions that should be driving legislative action.
The 12th Annual State of the Union Study, produced by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute in coordination with the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, documented that in the U.S., more than 411,000 people joined a union last year. This is the largest one-year increase since 2008.
Economist Frank Manzo said the result was both expected and surprising. It was expected because the numbers reflect the record-high public support for unions and the broad desire among American workers for job quality and protection against rising costs. On the other hand, it was surprising because the growth extended to sectors where losses might have been anticipated, including the public sector. Manzo noted that the scale of the surge exceeded what most analysts predicted.
The finding is documented in the U.S. Department of Labor data. The study's analysis goes deeper, examining where the growth occurred, which workers are joining unions, what union membership delivers economically and what So-Called “Right to Work” laws cost the workers subject to them.
The growth in union membership last year occurred across the country but was not evenly distributed. In states that protect collective bargaining rights, union membership grew three times faster than in states with So-Called “Right to Work” laws. Manzo said the gap illustrates a direct policy effect: So-Called “Right to Work” laws depress the organizing conditions that would otherwise produce higher membership.
The scale of the gap matters. He explained that the number of states protecting collective bargaining and the number of states with So-Called “Right to Work” laws are roughly equal, as are the workforces in each type of state. However, if So-Called “Right to Work” states had produced membership growth at the rate of collective bargaining states, Manzo said the national total would have been approximately 300,000 new members from those states rather than 100,000. So-Called “Right to Work” laws, he claimed, suppressed an estimated 200,000 additional union members in a single year.
Illinois added union members for the second consecutive year and is expected to continue growing based on preliminary data and organizing activity.
Manzo said the data on what union membership delivers is consistent and significant. Nationally, union members earn between 10 percent and 20 percent more than comparable non-union workers. In Illinois specifically, the premium is 11 percent, as union members earn 11 percent more than non-union workers with the same characteristics, performing the same type of job and with the same background.
Union members are significantly more likely to own their homes compared to their non-union counterparts. They are also more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement security. Furthermore, Manzo said they are half as likely to rely on government assistance programs such as Medicaid and food stamps, compared to non-union workers. Lower worker turnover and higher investment in training benefit employers and worksites as well.
Manzo addressed the taxpayer dimension directly: when union density declines and workers rely more on public assistance programs, there is a real fiscal cost. The data supports the argument that weakening unions shifts costs from employers to taxpayers.
Workers in So-Called “Right to Work” states earn 8 percent less than their counterparts in collective bargaining states, after adjusting for cost-of-living differences. Without that adjustment, the gap would be larger, noted Manzo. He explained that the gap is growing. Since 2019, earnings have been 3 percent lower in So-Called “Right-to-Work” states, meaning the disadvantage is widening rather than narrowing.
Manzo said this is not an anomaly. When worker bargaining power is eroded by law, more of the economic output flows to capital, shareholders and large corporations and less flows to workers. The data show that states with So-Called “Right to Work” laws have actively undermined wage growth, access to benefits and middle-class stability that their elected officials frequently say they want to promote.
According to the study, the groups with the highest union membership rates nationally are Black workers, military veterans and workers with advanced degrees, such as master's degrees. In Illinois, one in five veterans is a union member. U.S. citizens are more likely to be union members than foreign-born immigrants.
The report documents that these are not fringe constituencies. Black workers, veterans and highly educated workers are among the most unionized Americans because they have seen firsthand what union membership delivers and have exercised their right to join.
The Trump administration's attempt to revoke collective bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal employees drove a surge in federal worker organizing last year. Manzo said the litigation challenging those actions was largely unresolved during the period covered by the study, leaving the full impact to play out in subsequent years. Some courts have since ruled that collective bargaining rights can be removed from certain federal workers, while others have protected rights, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents and Department of Veterans Affairs workers. The legal landscape remains contested.
The data from last year shows that when workers face threats to their job security and workplace rights, they turn to unions. Manzo said the response is consistent with historical patterns. In times of uncertainty, union membership grows as workers seek the job security, wage protection and collective voice that union contracts provide.
He said the same dynamic extends to private-sector workers who watch what happens in the federal sector. When the government attacks public employee unions, it signals to private sector workers that they need protection, too. The threat to one sector of the workforce has historically driven organizing across the board.
Recent polling has shown that Americans are increasingly understanding the power of unions. According to a Gallup poll, seven in 10 Americans support unions, with majority support among Democrats, independents and Republicans. More Americans support eliminating So-Called “Right to Work” laws than keeping them. More Americans support making it easier to form and join unions than oppose those reforms.
Manzo said the gap between public opinion and legislative reality in So-Called “Right to Work” states shows a failure by elected officials to reflect their constituents' views. Elected officials across the political spectrum say they want to rebuild the middle class, reduce reliance on government assistance and help families deal with affordability pressures. The data shows that So-Called “Right to Work” laws actively work against each of those stated goals.
His message is direct: repeal So-Called “Right to Work” laws, streamline the process for forming unions and penalize businesses that violate labor rights. When workers are free to organize, union membership grows. When union membership grows, wage growth allows workers to keep pace with or stay ahead of inflation. When the middle class is strong, the economy is more resilient.
More information on the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the full study is available at illinoisepi.org.
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