Findings Come As President Backs Away from Big Labor’s Top Priority
From The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace:
A new national survey of 1,000 likely voters released by The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) shows strong opposition to The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) from the individuals who sent Barack Obama to the White House.
“Obama voters did not go to the polls last November to eliminate the secret ballot, and Congress should think twice about taking it away from millions of American workers,” said Brian Worth with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. “This bill is opposed by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, rank and file union workers, and President Obama’s voters by roughly the same margins. The only support card check has is among the leaders of Big Labor who are willing to sacrifice worker privacy and put our economy at further risk to boost their membership roles.”
Key findings of the poll include:
- 73% of Obama voters are opposed to EFCA.
- 86% of Obama voters believe that a worker’s vote should be kept private in a union organizing election.
- 81% of Obama voters believe that secret ballot elections are the best way to protect the individual rights of workers. 81% of Obama voters believe that Congress should focus on other issues like jobs and health care before dealing with EFCA.
- 68% of Obama voters believe the binding arbitration provisions in EFCA are risky and unwise.
- 61% of Obama voters would be less likely to vote for a Member of Congress who voted to take away the secret ballot from workers.
The findings reinforce why Big Labor’s top priority is losing momentum. Even while he announced several labor-friendly initiatives at the White House last Friday, with prominent labor leaders in attendance, President Obama did not mention EFCA. This lack of recognition speaks volumes about the growing unpopularity of the legislation and its negative impact on worker privacy and job creation.
Voters don’t support EFCA, and they want President Obama and Congress to focus on other issues like jobs and health care. This is a major set-back for the nation’s labor bosses who were hoping for a win on EFCA in the early days of the 111th Congress.
“It’s becoming clear why President Obama wants to put card check on the sidelines. This bill will strip away worker privacy and undercut his efforts to jumpstart the economy. It also happens to be wildly unpopular with the American people,” Worth concluded.
Methodology: This poll of 1,000 likely general election voters in the United States was conducted from January 7th – 11th, 2009 by McLaughlin & Associates. The poll included 477 individuals who voted for President Obama last November. 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.
About the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is made up of more than 500 associations and organizations from every state across the nation that have joined together to protect a worker’s right to a private ballot when deciding whether to join a union. In 2008, CDW embarked on a multi-million dollar public education campaign in key states that included polling, television, radio and internet ads and direct mail. For more information and a listing of our membership, please visit www.MyPrivateBallot.com.
