US union membership soared to 16-year high in 2025 despite Trump assault

Union coverage slightly increased last year even as White House tried to eliminate contracts for thousands of workers

The number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

About 16.5 million workers were covered by a union contract in 2025, up from 16 million in 2024 and the highest level since 2009. The increase stems from workers joining unions as members – 14.7 million US workers were union members in 2025, up from 14.2 million workers in 2024.

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Why This Matters

Union coverage slightly increased last year even as White House tried to eliminate contracts for thousands of workers

The number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new

Coverage Snapshot

Week 8 2026 included 92 Business article(s). Leading outlets for this topic included CNBC, Independent Business, Fox News. Across that cluster, sentiment showed a mostly neutral skew (avg score -0.01).

Key Insights

Primary keywords: union, workers, text, million, trump.
Topic focus: Business coverage with neutral sentiment.
Source context: reported by Guardian Business.
Published: 2026-02-18.
Published by Guardian Business, a widely cited major outlet.
Date context: published during Week 8 2026, when UK Politics dominated weekly headlines.

Tone & Sentiment

The article tone is classified as neutral, driven by the language and emphasis in the summary. The sentiment score of 0.02 indicates the strength of that tone.

Context

This piece fits within the broader Business narrative, connecting current events to ongoing developments. Readers tracking Business trends can use this article as a concise signal of what is shaping coverage right now.

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Key Takeaway

In short, this article underscores key movement in Business and explains why it matters now.

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Guardian Business US union membership soared to 16-year high in 2025 despite Trump assault