by Jordan Zakarin
A supermajority of Americans have a favorable opinion of unionizing Amazon workers, according to a new poll.
In a survey of nearly 2500 Americans, 75% of respondents agreed with Amazon workers who say that they “need union representation in order to have job security, better pay, and safer working conditions” – the very demands listed on the Amazon Labor Union website. The poll found that the union’s argument was significantly more popular (roughly 20 percentage points higher) than the management-side argument that workers don’t need a union because they already have good pay and benefits.
The poll, conducted by Blue Rose Research on behalf of More Perfect Union, was in the field between April 7th and April 12th, as news of the independent Amazon Labor Union’s historic union election victory at a warehouse in Staten Island began to filter into mainstream news coverage.
The More Perfect Union poll showed that Amazon’s brand as a company is strong among consumers, a finding that tracks with other public polls. When we asked consumers who have shopped on Amazon over the last 3 months, 90% indicated they have a favorable opinion of the company. But interestingly, even among this very strong base of recent Amazon consumers (ie, those who made a purchase in the last 3 months), 75% still supported the workers’ arguments.
Support for the unionizing workers was highest among young respondents, who enthusiastically backed the effort to organize the world’s largest e-retailer and the country’s second largest employer. 83% of Americans aged 18-34 agreed with the union’s argument, while 80% of respondents 35-49 also agreed. Among Biden voters aged 18-34, the support for the union at Amazon sat at an astounding 91%, while Biden voters aged 35-49 were close behind at 90% approval. Biden support among this same demographic has been dropping according to recent public polls, indicating that embracing organizing workers can help Biden restore his public standing.
Even young conservatives agree with the union. 71% of Trump voters 18-34 said that Amazon workers needed a union, while 66% of the former president’s supporters aged 35-49 agreed with the sentiment.
Millennial and Gen. Z enthusiasm for workers seeking to exercise their rights tracks with overall trend lines in the United States. In September, Gallup reported that support for unions among Americans 18-34 stood at 77%.
Petitions to hold union elections surged in the first quarter of 2022, according to the NLRB, and many were fueled by young organizers at corporations such as Starbucks and universities across the country.
Support for the Amazon Labor Union also cut across racial lines — 71% among white respondents, 83% among Hispanic respondents, 87% among Black respondents, and 75% among Asian respondents.
More Perfect Union has been advocating for politicians of both parties, including the President, to show public support for the organizing workers. The new polling suggests it is also a stance that would be well-received by the public.
