Americans Voice Strong Support for Employee Free Choice

January 08, 2009

New opinion research shows that 78 percent of Americans favor legislation to make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions – and 73 percent specifically support the Employee Free Choice Act. The survey, conducted for the AFL-CIO by Hart Research Associates Dec. 4-10, shows broad support for the Employee Free Choice Act across political party and state lines:

Three-quarters of moderate Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Independents support the legislation. Opposition is confined to 36 percent of Republicans who identify themselves as conservatives.

The broadest public support is for the majority sign-up provision, which puts the choice of how to form a union in the hands of workers, not employers. 75 percent of those surveyed favor allowing employees to have a union once a majority of employees in a workplace say they want one. Strong majorities also support other provisions of the bill: 64 percent are in favor of strengthening penalties for companies that illegally intimidate or fire employees who try to organize unions, and 61 percent favor establishing third-party binding arbitration to ensure that workers who choose to form a union can get a contract. For more information about this survey, read the post on the AFL-CIO Now blog and coverage from the Huffington Post.