A new independent Gallup poll says a majority of Americans favor new legislation to make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain—vital public support in the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Created and conducted by Gallup, the poll of 1,024 adults across the country shows 53 percent of respondents favor “a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.” The poll was reported this morning by the Huffington Post's Sam Stein, who says the results “give a boost” to efforts to pass this critical bill. The bill would give workers, not their bosses, the ability to choose how to form a union and protect workers from corporate coercion, harassment and illegal firing when they try to form unions.
According to the poll, a bill to make it easier to form unions draws the support of 70 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents and 34 percent of Republicans. This strong support echoes the result of an AFL-CIO survey released earlier this year showing the public favors legislation protecting the freedom to form unions and bargain.
At the same time, many respondents aren’t closely following the debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. This means many aren’t aware that the freedom to form unions is limited by widespread corporate interference. IIn previous polls, only half of the respondents were aware that companies generally oppose their workers’ attempts to form a union and bargain.
Gallup reports the poll’s results back up positive public attitudes toward unions, which the polling firm consistently has found in its recent polling:
Previous Gallup polling has shown that Americans are fundamentally sympathetic to labor unions, and these underlying attitudes are no doubt reflected in their general support for legislation characterized as making it easier for workers to unionize.