Try the political quiz
@ISIDEWITHQuestionsEconomyStarted 12yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Do you believe labor unions help or hurt the economy?

Union membership in the UK began declining steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In September 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s. Union members include nurses, school meals staff, hospital cleaners, professional footballers, shop assistants, teaching assistants, bus drivers, engineers and apprentices.

+
Expand
+ Settings

Toggle voterbase

Statistics are shown for this demographic

Answer Overview

Response rates from 97.1k UK voters.

70%
Help
30%
Hurt
49%
Help
28%
Hurt
13%
Help, in theory but have recently become corrupt and should have their powers limited
2%
Hurt, I support some private unions but am strongly against public unions
8%
Help, but ban their ability to make political donations

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 97.1k UK voters.

Loading data...

Loading chart... 

Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 97.1k UK voters.

Loading data...

Loading chart... 

Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from UK voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @979XN3F from New York  answered…3yrs3Y

Hurt, but they are necessary for a balance of power

 @9MZNK8Kanswered…2yrs2Y

This question is irrelevant because laboUr unions exist to protect workers' rights not to protect the economy. It's like asking if churches are good for the economy.

 @9PWDD5L answered…2yrs2Y

Helpful, but when services are striking all the time when they receive almost twice the average wage of a city then they are hurtful and should be prevented from doing so

 @8PC66MZanswered…6yrs6Y

don’t understand

 @9WTN5BT  from Maine  answered…1mo1MO

They should help but some have stopped focussing on who is the customer and who is the profiter.

 @BDH6XD6 answered…1mo1MO

It does not matter if they help or hurt the economy; if they are concerned with 'helping' the economy over the workers they are already lost.

 @BDGB8KKanswered…2mos2MO

Help, and supreme soviets should be set up

 @BDDKTSLanswered…2mos2MO

Believe the in theory answer but not about reducing their powers. Other options should be examined

Latest News

Stay up-to-date on the most recent “Labor Unions” news articles, updated frequently.

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Volkswagen Faces Explosive Strikes Over Plant Closures and Job Cuts

Tens of thousands of Volkswagen workers will participate Monday in strikes at plants across Germany, labor union IG Metall said, marking the largest walkouts at the carmaker’s domestic operations since 2018.The walkouts, which are planned to last several hours, follow weeks of collective bargaining negotiations during which VW refused to rule out mass layoffs and potential plant closures in its home market — drastic measures the company says are necessary to prop up its fortunes amid competition from China and weaker European demand.A so-called “peace obligation” between workers and the company, which prohibited industrial action, expired on Saturday, allowing strikes to take place from Sunday at virtually all of Volkswagen’s German factories.“If necessary, this will become the toughest wage dispute Volkswagen has ever seen,” IG Metall’s chief negotiator Thorsten Groeger said in a statement Sunday. “How long and intense this dispute will be is Volkswagen’s responsibility at the negotiating table.”“Volkswagen has set our collective bargaining agreements on fire, and instead of extinguishing this fire during three rounds of negotiations, the management board keeps throwing open barrels of gasoline onto it,” he added.The walkouts will be the first large-scale strikes that Volkswagen has faced since 2018, according to IG Metall, when 50,000 workers idled plants over pay. Although the work stoppages will last only a few hours, it is possible that 24-hour warning strikes could be called later this year. Indefinite strikes could also be called as a last resort, but only after members have been consulted again, IG Metall said.The strikes represent a fresh headache for Europe’s largest automaker, which saw operating profit for the first nine months of the year tumble by a fifth from the previous year, as its flagship brand struggled. Vehicle sales also slipped on particularly weak demand in China, where it is losing market share to Chinese electric vehicle brands.

▲  2

Popular Conversations

Join in on the most popular conversations.

Active 2mos ago

 @ISIDEWITHDiscuss this answer...…6yrs6Y

Should critical race theory be taught in K-12 education?

No

▲  19.8k6 replies4 agree1 disagree

About This Data

Based on 97.1k responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

iSideWith is non-partisan — we don't advocate for any party, candidate, or position. We report what the public tells us.

Read Our Full Methodology →

Cite Or Embed This Poll

Writing about this issue? Use the live data and link back to the full results.

Cite This Poll

iSideWith. (2026). “Do you believe labor unions help or hurt the economy?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://uk.isidewith.com/polls/657250856

Embed The Live Result

Preview