Two thirds of U.S. professionals fear company retaliation against union activities, survey reveals
A recent survey conducted among 4,758 U.S. professionals reveals that 67% believe their employers would interfere with union activities if workers tried to organize. Only 9% said their employers would not interfere, while 24% were unsure.
Employees at Intuit (83%), Expedia (78%), and Meta (77%) report the highest levels of concern about employer interference. In contrast, Salesforce (43%), Apple (48%), and ServiceNow (48%) show much lower concern, highlighting diverse workplace cultures toward union activities.
High concern about interference didn't reduce interest in unionization. 64% of respondents said they would still consider joining a union if one were formed at their company. The companies with the highest union joining intent—LinkedIn (80%), Atlassian (73%), and Walmart (73%)—were also among those where concern about employer interference was notably high.
When asked about their main reasons for joining a union, nearly half of respondents (48%) cited the need for clearer criteria around employee evaluation and layoffs. Other reasons included better compensation and benefits (25%), better communication between employees and management (13%), and improved workplace safety and conditions (10%).
Following recent large-scale layoffs at Microsoft and Meta, there has been a notable surge in unionization efforts among tech workers on Blind. An employee at Microsoft said “I’ve always been very anti-union but I’m starting to think it is needed. The way MS is treating people internally and the way these cuts are being made is so wrong.”
Conversely, an employee at Salesforce stated, “This is tech. We job hop more than most other industries for higher pay. Unionizing would lower our salaries, but I don’t want to be stuck in a company forever with no growth.”
Methodology
This survey was conducted on Blind, an anonymous workplace app that verifies users through their work email. The data was collected between May 19th and July 10th. A total of 4,758 verified professionals responded to the following multiple-choice questions. The overall margin of error is ±2.5% at a 95% confidence level.
- Do you believe your company would limit or interfere with union activities?
- If a labor union were formed at your company, would you consider joining it?
- What would be your main reason for joining a union?