Shuler: “Sh*t’s too expensive”

New polling gives insight into working people’s perspectives on the economy, high trust in unions, and why unions are needed now more than ever

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 2, 2026) — AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler kicked off her annual State of the Unions address with a straightforward message.

“This Labor Day, shit’s too expensive,” said Shuler. “That’s what 94% of workers told us, in our new poll. Four out of five say: paychecks aren’t keeping up with the cost of living—groceries, rent, child care, gas.”

Working people are working harder and longer for less and less in return, deeply frustrated with political leaders that seem to take their cues from the wealthiest people in the world rather than the working people whose labor powers this country. New polling from the AFL-CIO indicates working people trust unions far more than either political party: unions are trusted more than the Democratic Party by 20 points (52% to 32%) and workers are twice as likely to trust unions than to trust the Republican Party (52% to 26%).

“Workers are sick and tired of both parties: Republicans who enable a White House that has made our life worse and more expensive at every turn…[and] Democrats who pay lip service to working people, say they understand us, and want our votes on Election Day—and then take office and cozy up to the same corporations we’re fighting on the picket lines,” said Shuler.

Shuler speaks at the 2026 WSLC Constitutional Convention in July. Photo: The STAND

The poll — a survey of thousands of workers, both union members and those not-yet-union — gives insight into working people’s concerns as well as notions for building an economy that supports people, not corporate CEOs and billionaires.

The AFL-CIO highlighted these findings:

• Young workers ages 18–30 trust labor unions (61%) more than twice as much as they trust the Democratic Party (28%) or the Republican Party (22%). Among young men, the trust gap is 40 points between unions and Democrats (63% to 23%) and 43 points between unions and Republicans (63% to 20%).

• The only group workers trust more than unions is their own neighbors (75%).

• For five years running, 7 in 10 Americans say they support unions—the highest level of support in a generation.

• By a 2-to-1 margin, people say unions are more needed today than in the past, and say increasing union membership is the single best way Americans can get a raise.

Union membership is at 16-year high and nearly half-million workers joined a union in 2025, 92% of them younger than 40. And more workers than ever want to be union. The AFL-CIO poll found that 57% of workers aged 18–30 who aren’t in a union say they’d join one, up 10 points since last year.

In her State of the Unions address, Shuler pointed to the single greatest barrier to that desire to be union transforming into actual membership.

“The labor laws in our country are rigged against workers trying to form a union, so it’s harder to organize,” she said. “It’s harder to build worker power when the people in charge are working every day to undermine the movement that gives working people a voice. That’s why these midterm elections matter. If we don’t right the ship in November, it gets that much harder to build an economy that works for all of us.”

With billionaires — and the world’s first trillionaire — ready to drop billions of dollars to influence the upcoming election and shore up their own power, Shuler highlighted the need for working people to organize ourselves to turn out to vote in November.

“The 50 biggest individual political donors have already spent more than $1.6 billion on the 2026 election cycle. Elon Musk—one guy—is ready to spend as much as $200 million the next few months alone,” said Shuler. “We can’t outspend them. We can’t compete with the billionaire TV ads. But we don’t have to. Our answer is people talking to people. It’s the trust, the relationships that union workers have all over America. We are the antidote to billionaire money.”

If you’re interested in being one of those people talking to people, consider joining the Washington State Labor Council for Labor Neighbor, a member-to-member political education program turning out union families to vote for pro-worker candidates in November. Sign up here to be notified of upcoming events.