50 Best Country Songs About Unions
Best Songs That Capture the Spirit of Union Pride
There’s a particular tension that lingers in the air when people gather to fight for something bigger than themselves. It’s not always victory or defeat, but this restless middle ground where voices crack from chanting and hands ache from holding signs too long. Some tracks spill straight out of that space, echoing the strength and weariness of workers linked arm-in-arm on factory floors or crowded sidewalks. A few of these songs tell the story outright, others circle the theme in subtler ways, like pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that weren’t written with unions in mind but still carry that fire when you hear them through the right lens.
Union struggles rarely look clean. They swing between hope and frustration, long meetings in stuffy rooms, and fleeting moments of solidarity that feel like they could change everything. The right song cuts through the noise, not with a polished rallying cry but with grit, like voices rising over the din of machinery or a beat that refuses to quiet down. Some tracks hold anger close, others lean into resilience, and a few manage to thread both together without softening the edges.
These aren’t songs that sit on the sidelines or try to smooth things over. They live in the chaos of collective action, capturing the grit and messy unity that builds slowly, then surges all at once. A couple might seem like strange picks at first listen, but they hit the feeling right even without a literal mention of unions. Here are the best country songs for union pride and solidarity.
Top 10 Country Songs About Workers
1. 'Sixteen Tons' by Tennessee Ernie Ford
2. 'Coal Miner's Daughter' by Loretta Lynn
3. '9 to 5' by Dolly Parton
4. 'Working Man Blues' by Merle Haggard
5. '40 Hour Week (For a Livin')' by Alabama
6. 'Take This Job and Shove It' by Johnny Paycheck
7. 'Solidarity Forever' by Ralph Chaplin
8. 'Hard Workin' Man' by Brooks & Dunn
9. 'Union Maid' by Woody Guthrie
10. 'Which Side Are You On?' by Florence Reece
Labor Rights and Union Songs #21 to 30
11. 'The Factory' by Kenny Rogers
12. 'There Is Power in a Union' by Joe Hill
13. 'Brother Can You Spare a Dime?' by Bing Crosby
14. 'The Death of Mother Jones' by Pete Seeger
15. 'Ballad of a Retired Man' by Ian Noe
16. 'The Rebel Girl' by Hazel Dickens
17. 'Coal Tattoo' by Billy Edd Wheeler
18. 'My Hometown' by Bruce Springsteen
19. 'Talkin' Union' by The Almanac Singers
20. 'Six Days on the Road' by Dave Dudley
Union and Working Class Music #31 to 40
21. 'Workin' Man (Nowhere to Go)' by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
22. 'The Mountain' by Steve Earle
23. 'Factory' by Bruce Springsteen
24. 'Puttin' People On The Moon' by Drive-By Truckers
25. 'Shiftwork' by Kenny Chesney featuring George Strait
26. 'I Am a Union Woman' by Aunt Molly Jackson
27. 'Hard Times' by Tyler Childers
28. 'Lydia' by Margo Price
29. 'Joe Hill' by Paul Robeson
30. 'The John Mclean March' by Jim Grahame
Country Songs About Labor and Workers #41 to 50
31. 'The Company Man' by The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing
32. 'Black Lung' by Hazel Dickens
33. 'We Shall Not Be Moved' by Pete Seeger
34. 'This Land Is Your Land' by Woody Guthrie
35. 'God Is A Working Man' by Jason Isbell
36. 'Union Town' by The Joe Glazer Group
37. 'Which Side Are You On?' by Pete Seeger
38. 'Bread and Roses' by Utah Phillips
39. 'Blowin' Smoke' by Kacey Musgraves
40. 'Workin' for a Livin'' by Huey Lewis and the News
Country Songs for Unions #41 to 50
41. 'We Just Come to Work Here, We Don't Come to Die' by Anne Feeney
42. 'The Popular Wobbly' by Utah Phillips
43. 'American Dream' by Drayton Farley
44. 'Lord Have Mercy on the Workin' Man' by Travis Tritt
45. 'The Mill Was Made of Marble' by Joe Glazer
46. 'Sawmill' by Mel Tillis
47. 'The Ballad of a Working Man' by The Johnson Mountain Boys
48. 'The Dying Miner's Lament' by The Carter Family
49. 'Lookin' for a Job' by Todd Snider
50. 'I'm a Union Card' by Kenny Winfree
© 2025 Carson McQueen
