Union Approval Rating Drops Below 50 Percent
In what comes as not much of a shock to most, Gallup Poll taken at the end of August shows that only 48 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of organized labor unions. The opinion of how unions affect the workplace is clear as well: 62 percent of the general public believe that unions hurt non-union workers.
Erik Westervelt states on Examiner.com that:
Gallup has been tracking public opinion on labor unions since around the time of the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1936. The following year the poll found that 72% of citizens approved of the role of labor unions. That number ballooned to an all-time high from 1954-57 when three quarters of the American public had a positive view of union labor. Starting in the late-60s the number of those approving began to shrink, this in conjunction with a slowing economy and stronger Republican influence on politics from the end of the 60s through the early-90s. With the economy soaring in the late-90s however approval spiked again to 66%.
A substantial number of Americans blame labor unions for the struggling auto industry according to Gallup. Those not in favor of the industry bailouts had their negative views exacerbated, and a growing number of Americans see labor unions hurting the companies they are employed with. In terms of their impact on the overall U.S. economy a record high 51% think labor unions are hurting the situation against 39% who think they are mostly helping.
Numbers such as these are reflected in latest Rasmussen survey on the topic. With just 13% considering Labor Day to be one of America’s most important holidays the total of those who feel labor unions make our country weaker is at 45%. Only 26% suggest that unions have made our country stronger with nearly half of poll responders (48%) of the opinion that these unions have outlasted their usefulness. The perceptions Americans have of their fellow workers are also increasingly negative. 36% say Americans do not work as hard as people in other countries against just 30% who think we work harder.
A plurality of Americans (49%) still favor the existence of labor unions but the gap is noticeable between genders and political party affiliation. Rasmussen contends that 58% of men against just 33% of women have negative views toward union labor, considering it to have made our country weaker. Not surprisingly given their longtime affiliation with labor unions Democrats have a largely positive view (64%) with six in ten Republicans viewing unions unfavorably.
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