For pols addicted to polls, Gallup recently released an analysis titled “Americans remain broadly supportive of unions.” Failing to read beyond this headline of the polling outfit’s publication, though, could mislead some into believing Big Labor has bigger backing than it actually does. As always, the devil is in the details.
Gallup’s December 1 release (or, rather, re-release of numbers gathered in August) seemingly offers a glimmer of hope to labor officials and the candidates they helped elect in this year’s orgy of campaign cash. It seems 59 percent of Americans approve of unions, which is roughly unchanged over the last several years.
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That’s good news for labor, right? Sure. But as with any poll, the really interesting numbers are found farther down the page.
Take, for example, the broader perspective on unions’ approval figures. Their current rating is actually 13 percent lower than in 1936, when the first iteration of modern labor law recognized the right to collectively bargain. It’s 16 percent lower than in 1957, when investigators began uncovering and publicizing rampant corruption by union officials.
And remember, the Gallup figure was gathered before the United Auto Workers stubborn refusal to take timed wage cuts led to the collapse of a $14 billion bailout pending in the Senate, so the figure could well be lower today. Unions certainly won’t be a darling of the public when the obvious rhetorical question is “should America be run like Detroit?”
Up-to-the-minute figures from the same polling firm released December 9 show that a majority of TARP-tired Americans oppose a major federal bailout for the Big 3.
But beyond a simple approval rating, these recent Gallup figures have huge implications for the coming debate over labor law reform and whether to pass the grossly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act. EFCA, which would effectively end secret ballots in workplace union elections and see government-imposed arbitration set contracts for private employers, is the unions’ top political priority. It’s a one-bill union bailout.
Unfortunately for union bosses, the Gallup union-approval numbers show that only one-third of Americans want unions to have more influence. That means two-thirds want unions to maintain or reduce their current level of power in society. Notably, independents show a slight preference for less union influence, rather than more.
Dueling polls from labor and business interests aside, the well-respected Gallup poll delivers no real mandate to hand union officials more power. That means voters aren’t asking for EFCA. Congress shouldn’t, either.
It may seem odd to place such importance on one finger in the wind. But it’s vital to account for the public’s wishes when considering a massive reorganization of the American economy. So, the lingering question must be answered by the poll readers in the office of the president-elect: Will they risk picking an ugly, unpopular policy fight right out of the gate? Survey says…
Bret Jacobson is founder and president of Maverick Strategies LLC, a research and communications firm serving business and free-market think tanks.
