Some 77% of workers aged 18–25 say they want to belong to a union. Yet only about 7% actually do.

That staggering gap is not a mystery of apathy, Ephrin Jenkins of Steelworkers Local 1014 told a packed seminar at the AFL-CIO’s Martin Luther King Jr. conference here. It is a failure of connection—between activism and involvement, between generations, and between unions and the very workers who want them.

“Young people care. They’re active. They’re showing up,” Jenkins said. “But there’s a difference between activism and involvement—and we haven’t figured out how to link the two.”

Activism without a pathway

Jenkins framed the problem simply: marching is not the same as organizing, and visibility is not the same as power.

“It’s the difference between being part of a mass march and assembling a delegation,” he said. “Between thinking about joining a union and knowing how to do it—and then organizing others.”

Young workers are often deeply engaged in causes, especially through social media and public demonstrations. But without clear pathways into unions—how to join, how to lead, how to challenge power—much of that energy dissipates.

“If your involvement becomes transformative into activism,” Jenkins said, “that’s when it becomes important.”

Fear, exposure, and the need for protection

Many young workers hesitate to be the first to step forward, especially when organizing a workplace.

“You’re seen. You’re the image. You’re targeted,” Jenkins explained. “You think you’re going to be the only one out there.”

That fear is compounded by a lack of protection. Young workers may attend rallies or post online, but taking concrete action—like organizing a shop—feels riskier without visible backing from more experienced unionists.

That’s where older generations must step in, Jenkins argued—not to control, but to shield.

“Protect them. Educate them. Strategize with them. Make it personal,” he said. “Give advice, not orders. And give them the space to fail.”

A culture that pushes young people out

Too often, Jenkins said, union culture itself drives younger members away.

Rather than challenging internal hierarchies, young workers are told to accept them—or leave. Instead of being asked what works for them, they’re instructed on what has always been done.

“We tell young people, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Jenkins said. “That kills trust.”

Several participants echoed that concern, noting that younger unionists are frequently dismissed or sidelined just as they’re ready to engage.

“The seasoned generation didn’t pick up on what was happening,” Jenkins warned. “They give orders without listening—and the young people start scaling back.”

Mentorship must go both ways

One union sectoral vice president offered a contrasting example: mentorship.

She described identifying a Gen Z member as her second-in-command, rapidly promoting her, assigning real responsibility, and sharing institutional history. The result was immediate engagement and growth.

But others quickly pointed out that mentorship cannot be one-directional.

“You aren’t reaching me,” said one participant, who described herself as a Gen Z college graduate. “Nobody talks about what we need.”

True mentorship, the group agreed, is reciprocal. Older unionists bring experience, strategy, and protection. Younger workers bring new tools, new language, and new ways of communicating.

“Unions have to learn how to speak TikTok, WhatsApp, and text,” Jenkins said. “And younger workers have to teach us how.”

Beyond silos and stagnation

Jenkins also pointed to a broader societal problem hurting unions: isolation.

People increasingly retreat into ideological silos, listen only to voices that affirm them, and fail to build connections across movements and generations.

“We often hate each other,” Jenkins said. “We hate each other because we don’t know each other. We don’t know each other because we don’t communicate.”

The result is complacency—and eventually fear.

“When there’s a lack of comprehension,” Jenkins warned, “that’s where the hate comes in.”

Lessons from history—and a warning

This is not the first time workers have retreated from collective action, Jenkins noted. After World War II, union membership grew, but union density slowly declined. That decline accelerated dramatically after President Ronald Reagan fired 16,000 striking air traffic controllers in 1981—and faced little resistance.

“That opened the door,” Jenkins said, “for mass corporate hostility toward workers.”

The lesson for today’s labor movement is clear: disengagement has consequences.

The choice ahead

As the discussion wound down, participants repeatedly returned to the same conclusion: young workers are not the problem. The problem is whether unions are willing to trust them, invest in them, and eventually step aside.

“In the labor movement, we act like the older folks are the protectors and the younger folks are the activists,” Jenkins said. “That’s a misperception. Protection and activism cut across generations.”

The vice president who spoke earlier put it more bluntly.

“We have to be more engaging,” she said. “And then—we have to move out of the way.”

Until unions do that, the contradiction will remain: a generation that overwhelmingly wants unions, and a labor movement that still doesn’t quite know how to let them in.

Material for this story came from PAI News Sevice.