Public Opinion Strategies is pleased to present the key findings from a national post-election survey of 800 voters who said they voted on Election Day (November 4, 2008) or voted early. The telephone survey was conducted November 17-19, 2008, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%.
THE BOTTOM LINE
When presented with neutral language that describes the two main components of the Employee Free Choice Act, solid majorities of those who voted in this year’s elections oppose the proposed egislation. A couple of important themes arise in this survey data.
First, the more familiar voters are with the Employee Free Choice Act, the more opposed they are to it. Secondly, voters do not see this as a partisan or ideologically driven issue. Both a majority f Republican and Democratic voters oppose the Employee Free Choice Act, as do conservatives and liberals alike. Additionally, voters in the political middle – the battleground states where McCain and Obama won with less than 55% of the vote – oppose this legislation by very significant margins. And, in a clear warning sign to those newly elected (and re-elected) Democrat U.S. Senators, a solid majority of voters in your states oppose both components of the Employee Free Choice Act.
This data shows that Americans have a strong attachment to the secret ballot process. Among the few voters who support unionizing their employer, the overwhelming majority say they would want to decide the issue with a secret ballot process and not a card check system. Why? One reason that can’t be taken lightly is the very real concern voters have that a card check process would lead to increased worker intimidation by union organizers.
SURVEY KEY FINDINGS
1. Significant majorities of actual voters oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. Because of the length of the legislation, we tested each of the two main components of the Employee Free Choice Act separately. What we found was that 59% of actual voters oppose changing the way unions are formed in this country and 53% oppose changing the bargaining process as proposed in this legislation. In fact, very few voters who went to the polls this year support the Employee Free Choice Act – only 34% favor changing the way unions are formed and just 39% favor changing the bargaining process.“The (FIRST/NEXT) part of this new legislation would...
Change the way unions are formed. Instead of holding a federally supervised secret ballot election to decide whether to unionize, union organizers would be allowed to ask employees to sign a card saying they support forming a union. Once a majority of employees sign these cards, the union would officially represent that company's entire workforce.”
34% Favor
59% Oppose
7% Don’t Know/Not Sure
“Change the bargaining process. This legislation would give the newly formed union and the employer 90 days to reach a contract agreement or else the matter will be handed over to federal arbitrators. It would be those arbitrators who would determine the wages, benefits and other terms of the contract that employees would be required to work under for two years.”
39% Favor
54% Oppose
8% Don’t Know/Not Sure
- The more voters hear about this legislation, the less they like it. Those 2008 voters who say they have seen, read, or heard “a lot” about the Employee Free Choice Act are decidedly more negative towards it. Fully 80% oppose changing the way unions are formed and 60% oppose changing the bargaining process.
- Interestingly, even most union households oppose the main two parts of the Employee Free Choice Act. Fully 53% of union households oppose changing the way unions are formed and 55% oppose changing the bargaining process.
- Looking for an issue that Republicans and Democrats can agree on? Look no further than the Employee Free Choice Act. A majority of Republicans and Democrats oppose both parts of the proposed legislation:
- There is also strong opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act in the hotly contested battleground states. At the Presidential level, solid majorities of voters in states where McCain and Obama won with less than 55% oppose both portions of the Employee Free Choice Act. Likewise, in those states that went from red to blue status – states that voted for Bush in 2004, but voted for Obama in 2008 – voters overwhelming oppose this proposed legislation.
- U.S. Senators – especially those newly elected Democratic Senators – could pay a political price for supporting this legislation. That’s because 62% of actual voters in those states that had U.S. Senate elections oppose changing the way unions are formed and 52% of them oppose changing the bargaining process. Moreover, in those states where Democratic Senate candidates won this year, 61% of voters oppose changing the way unions are formed and 55% oppose changing the bargaining process.
- Majorities of employed voters and middle class voters – two groups that unions say would benefit the most from this legislation – also strongly oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. Overall, 64% of employed voters and 60% of middle class voters oppose changing the way unions are formed in this country. Similarly, 55% of employed voters and 51% of middle class voters oppose changing the bargaining process as proposed in this legislation.
2. Very few non-union workers (15%) say they would be inclined to support unionizing their employer. Rather, a majority of non-union employed voters (52%) are more inclined to oppose unionizing their company (33% don’t know/not sure/refused).
3. The overwhelming majority (81%) who do support unionizing their employer would prefer to decide the issue with a “secret ballot election process where your vote is private and confidential.” In fact, just 16% would prefer to use a “card signing process where your vote can be seen by the union, company management, and fellow co-workers.”
4. Voters have serious concerns about worker protections should the Employee Free Choice Act become law. Nearly two out of three voters (63%) say that if the Employee Free Choice Act passes they are worried that union organizers would “use deception, harassment, and even coercion to get employees to sign a pro-union card.”
- Concern about worker protections under the Employee Free Choice Act is consistent across gender (men - 63% worried, women - 62%), age (younger voters - 67%, seniors - 68%), ethnic (whites - 64%, African Americans - 60%, Latinos - 57%), and party lines (Republicans - 76%, Democrats - 52%).
- Even most union voters (56%) say they are worried about the tactics organizers would use to get card signatures.
For more information about this survey, please contact Rob Autry of Public Opinion Strategies (703-836-7655) or Mark Glanville of the Workforce Fairness Institute (202-828-8397).
Download a copy of this memo in PDF format along with the survey results.
