Do Americans agree with tea party view of unions?

Comment #6

louise black — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:00:04 GMT

The Union are necessary for people to survive, can't leave it up to people like you guys. Yes your right those standard of living you have is due in part to the Union even if you are not Unionize. Some where in all this subtle mess there is a message that this will take away the power of ordinary people ,especially the minority who might be poor and uneducated but still making a decent living. We have long as minority peep that hole card.The Unions are relentless the GOP will not win.

Comment #5

Boney526 — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:14:55 GMT

I was considering finishing with Private sector unions can be good - they gave Americans a decent standard of living. But I realize that was a while ago - when we had a whole lot of manufacturing jobs and conditions could be pretty bad.

Comment #4

konane — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:31:21 GMT

Unions served a purpose to an uneducated society which has limited means of communication to gain majority consensus. Computers and cells are leading our culture now so believe we've long past outgrown any benefit they offer.

Comment #3

truecritic — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:05:56 GMT

I'm in the Detroit area and GM, Ford and Chrysler are the main enemies. Teacher's also. However, shouldn't teachers who have gone to college and do their job properly make more than a janitor or lug nut assembly worker? I think they should. Teachers aren't worth what they get in this area, therefore auto workers are worth half of that, maybe less. So, for the first item: union workers make too much money, in most cases. Get rid of all the unions - employees have no right telling... [ More ]

Comment #2

JAP69 — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:06:50 GMT

Public sector unions are negotiating their contracts with the wrong people on the other side. The public sector unions should be negotiating with a citizens board made up of non elected officials. Not with elected officials that have a stake in gaining voter support.

Comment #1

Boney526 — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:21:54 GMT

Unions themselves are OK. In fact, they are necessary for an industrialized economy. However, when they become entangled with government, they become very corrupt. I think A) Unions should have a right to form and exist and B) Companies/corporations, etc. should have the right not to recognize a union, if they wish. This makes a more level playing ground. The unions can organize and demand something, but if they go too far, the company may just fire them all. Second of all,... [ More ]

Original Blog Entry: Do Americans agree with tea party view of unions?

truesee — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:35:16 GMT

Wisconsin protests: Do Americans agree with tea party view of unions?

Mark Trumbull

Staff writer

February 19, 2011

The tea party movement casts it as a battle to take state politics back from labor-union bosses and liberal interest groups. Union supporters say Republican lawmakers are putting the basic rights of working class Americans at risk.

Which view do more Americans agree with?

As union contract issues reverberate as state-budget sticking points in Wisconsin and other states, the American public doesn't fall neatly into either camp. The public's view on the subject is evolving, and how it shifts in coming months could help determine the near-term course of state politics and finances.

In one survey taken early this month, the Pew Research Center asked a cross-section of Americans whether their view of labor unions is favorable or unfavorable.

Although the share of respondents taking some form of favorable view (45 percent) was slightly larger than the camp with unfavorable views (42 percent), support for unions has clearly ebbed over the past decade. When Pew asked the same poll question in 1999, the margin was 59 percent favorable to 36 percent unfavorable.

Moreover, deeply held views of unions are more likely to be negative (17 percent say their view is very unfavorable ) than positive (11 percent say very favorable). The opposite was the case as recently as 2007.

At the same time, the poll underscored views that don't tend toward either extreme.

Asked about when you hear of a disagreement between state or local governments and unions that represent government workers, more Americans say their first reaction is to side with the union (44 percent) than with state or local governments (38 percent). And substantially more Americans see union contracts as ensuring that workers are treated fairly than as giving workers an unfair advantage.

As to their role in the private sector, the view is also mixed. A majority says unions have a positive impact on work conditions and worker pay, although many Americans worry that unions make it harder for US companies to compete globally.

Not surprisingly, Democrats have a much more favorable view of unions than Republicans. Among those who call themselves political independents, 42 percent voiced a favorable of unions view this month, down from 54 percent when Pew asked the question in January 2007.

Against this backdrop, advocates for and against unions are seeking to sway voter opinions in budget-strapped states across the nation.

The latest states to grab the spotlight are Wisconsin and Ohio. In both places, public-employee unions are seeking to counter Republican efforts to strip or reduce collective-bargaining rights.

Wisconsin's capital city, Madison, became the venue for dueling rallies Saturday. Buses brought in tea party adherents to express support for proposed union pay cuts. Meanwhile the ranks of union supporters swelled in their own rally nearby.

It comes after days during which many Wisconsin schools closed because teachers went to join protests at the capitol building. On Saturday, according to Associated Press reports, supporters of Gov. Scott Walker (R) sported signs reading, I was at work yesterday. Where were you? and Sorry, we're late Scott. We work for a living.

Midwestern states aren't the only ones facing difficult budget choices, involving everything from union compensation to education and other services.

As Wisconsin has become a prominent national news story this week, politicians on the national stage have also weighed in with their own efforts to sway public opinion.

Some of what I ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions, President Obama said. He said public employees like teachers and social workers shouldn't be blamed for budget problems.

House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio said Obama was colluding with special-interest allies across the country to demagogue reform-minded governors who are making the tough choices that the President is avoiding.

In recent years, public support for labor unions has begun to wane. Will this trend continue as state and local governments face budget challenges? Protests in Wisconsin may be an indicator.

... [ More ]