A Public Policy poll finds that Gov. Walker is losing support in Wisconsin; if last fall’s election were held today, Walker’s Democratic opponent would win handily. Interestingly, the biggest shift was among Republicans with a union member living in the household.
A New York Times/CBS News poll also finds a hefty majority of Americans are opposed to taking collective bargaining rights away from public employees, 60 percent to 33 percent. This finding is nearly identical to other polls I’ve seen. What’s surprising is that nearly as large a majority were opposed to cutting pay or benefits to reduce budget deficits. And finally, this —
Labor unions, including private sector labor unions, are seen as less influential now than they were three decades ago. The poll found that 37 percent of those surveyed believe that labor unions have “too much influence†on American life and politics, while 48 percent said they had the “right amount†or “too little†influence. In a 1981 poll, by contrast — soon after President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers — 60 percent of those surveyed said unions had “too much influence.†Of course, union membership has declined since then.
The campaign to turn unions into the bogyman is backfiring, seems to me.