According to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday, a large majority of Americans remain positive about unions.

70 percent of respondents said they had a positive opinion of unions, a slight increase from 67 percent in 2023. Only 23 percent said they opposed unions.

This year’s approval rating is the second highest in nearly 60 years, only surpassed by 71% in 2022.

The popularity of unions has risen and remained high after declining during the Great Recession in the late 2000s. Their growing popularity is linked to a increase in union election petitions, with more and more workers trying to organize their workplaces.

More and more workers have stopped work to demand better working conditions. The number of striking workers more than doubled in 2023. Polls showed that the public widely supported the auto workers who went on strike last year against Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis.

But so far, the increasing popularity of unions in the United States has not translated into a larger labor movement; union density has been declining there for decades.

In the 1950s, about one in three employees was a union member. only 1 of 10 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Although total union membership increased by an estimated 139,000 last year, union density has actually declined slightly as the U.S. workforce has grown.)

Labor leaders have pointed to high approval ratings in Gallup polls to make the case for a union revival. They also say it’s one reason unions could play a critical role in the 2024 election by convincing their members and their families to support Democratic candidates in swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Major unions quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race against former President Donald Trump in July. Several union leaders, including UAW President Shawn Fain, delivered speeches at the Democratic National Convention this month.

Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, argued in a speech Tuesday in Washington, DC, that the influence of unions will be crucial in the race for the White House. The federation, which has 60 unions as members, says 22 percent of voters in Pennsylvania are either union members or retirees who were active in unions.

“We can increase margins where it counts, we’ve built an organizing machine that can mobilize at a moment’s notice, and we’ve built a unique bond of trust and connection with workers, families and neighbors,” Shuler said. “There’s no doubt that the road to the White House runs through America’s union halls.”