Poll shows union members support voter's privacy

A new national survey of voters released today by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) shows opposition coming from an unlikely source - union households. A special polling oversample of 400 union households shows both union members and all voters strongly opposing The Employee Free Choice Act, often called the "card check" bill.

The findings indicate widespread concern among both voters and union households about this legislation that threatens secret ballots, worker privacy and job growth. Both voters and union members tell pollsters that Congress should focus on other more important issues and put Big Labor's agenda aside.

"The strong opposition from current union members to the Employee Free Choice Act should send a clear signal to President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress that the EFCA lacks popular support, both among a key Democratic constituency and voters as a whole," said Brian Worth with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. "The only support card check has is among the leaders of Big Labor."

The poll was conducted by nationally respected polling firm of McLaughlin & Associates. It surveyed 1,000 likely voters with a sub-sample of 400 union households. The poll was conducted from January 7 to 11, 2009.

Key findings of the poll include:

• Three out of four voters (74%) oppose the "The Employee Free Choice Act." Union households also strongly oppose the Employee Free Choice Act, 74% oppose to only 20% support.
• When given a more detailed description of the Employee Free Choice Act, nearly 9 out of 10 voters, 86%, feel the process should remain private and only 8% feel it should be public information. Again, even union workers feel strongly that the process should be kept private, as 88% said private and only 8% said public.
• Four out of five voters, or 82%, favor having a federally supervised election as a means to "protect the individual rights of workers." The voters clearly see this as a basic right, especially given that only 11% of voters feel the card check would be the best way to protect the individual rights of workers. Support increases to 85% among union households.
• The majority (52% to 26%) of American voters believe that the Employee Free Choice Act is not good for job creation. Even among union households, the plurality (48%) believes that the Employee Free Choice Act will cost America jobs.
• In the current economic climate, 52% of voters are particularly opposed to any measure that would risk jobs or job growth.
• Further exemplifying the electorates' distaste for the Employee Free Choice Act, 71% agreed that this legislation would be "unwise" and "risky." In today's economic climate, the electorate has little confidence in the federal government's ability to make such major business decisions.

Despite opposition from their own rank and file workers, labor bosses have made support for the EFCA, or "card check" bill, a top priority this year and are pressuring Congress to act quickly to pass it. Unfortunately for Big Labor, 79% of union workers and voters want Congress to focus on other issues like jobs and healthcare.

"Workers aren't fooled by Big Labor's attempt to increase their power at the expense of worker privacy," said Worth.

Methodology: This poll of 1,000 likely general election voters in the United States was conducted from January 7th - 11th, 2009 by McLaughlin & Associates. An oversample of 193 union households was conducted, which brings the combined total of union households to 400. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units - in this case, the fifty states. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a general election. This poll of 1,000 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval. The 400 sample of union households has an accuracy of +/- 4.9% at a 95% confidence interval.