--- title: Study finds Gen Z Leads the Charge in Union Support description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Aurelia Glass, Center for American Progress, joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_CAP-1.jpg --- 1 min read Season 7, Episode 8 # Study finds Gen Z Leads the Charge in Union Support [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) January 12, 2026 [Organizing](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/organizing) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [AWF](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/awf) [Government Affairs and Policy](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/government-affairs-and-policy) ![AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_CAP](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_CAP.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_CAP.jpg)   Guest Name: --- Aurelia Glass Guest Website: --- [Center for American Progress](https://www.americanprogress.org/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/americanprogress) [ Twitter](https://x.com/amprog) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/seeprogress) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/center-for-american-progress/) Supportive Documents: --- On today’s episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Aurelia Glass, Policy Analyst at the [Center for American Progress](https://www.americanprogress.org/), discussed research on union support among young Americans. Glass’s work focuses on the American Worker Project, which advocates for policies that make organizing easier and strengthen workers’ rights.  Glass began by highlighting a clear reality: unions work. They boost wages, enhance workplace protections and provide young workers with powerful tools to advocate for themselves. According to her research, younger people today, especially Gen Z men, are increasingly drawn to unions due to economic challenges such as affordability and stagnant wages. Glass noted that this appeal is intensified by financial pressures that make it harder for young workers to achieve traditional milestones of independence. However, union membership is particularly effective for young men, enhancing their ability to support themselves and their families, Glass added. Delving deeper into the data, Glass explained that support for unions is at a multi-decade high across all generations, but what stands out is the enthusiasm of Gen Z. Men in this age group show the highest levels of pro-union sentiment ever recorded, exceeding even the levels of union support seen in older generations when they were the same age. While this trend spans both young men and women, the surge among men is especially notable. Additionally, unions are delivering the most significant wage boosts for men under 34, with rates rising by 17.6 percent—a reflection of the practical benefits unions bring. Looking forward, Glass emphasized the need to address shortcomings in America’s labor laws, which often make it difficult for workers to organize. Improving these laws is essential for sustaining the momentum of today’s labor movement. She emphasized that the Center for American Progress is dedicated to disseminating these findings, raising awareness among workers and policymakers and advocating for reforms that expand access to union representation for more Americans. For more from Glass and the Center for American Progress, listen to the full episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast above. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... 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