Pew Poll: The Public Seems to Side with Unions

Interesting. i wouldnt have quessed this result.

MAR 01, 2011 AT 02:30 PM EST
Pew: The public sides with the unions
Joining the CBS/NYT poll from yesterday is this Pew poll with similar, albeit not as dramatic, results. The CBS/NYT poll found a 60-33 split in favor of leaving collective bargaining rights alone, while Pew finds:

By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin’s public employee unions rather than the state’s governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 31% say they side more with the governor, Scott Walker, according to the latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted Feb. 24-27 among 1,009 adults.
More detail from Pew:
Democrats overwhelmingly side with the government employee unions in the ongoing dispute in Wisconsin. Two- thirds (67%) say this, compared with just 12% who say they side more with the governor. About half of Republicans (53%) say they side more with Gov. Walker; 17% say they side more with the public employee unions. Independents are evenly divided (39% side more with the unions, 34% more with the governor).
Among those ages 18 to 29, nearly half (46%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 13% say they side with the governor. Among those 65 and older, the balance is reversed – but the gap more narrow (45% say they side more with the governor, 33% with the unions).

While whites are nearly evenly divided (38% unions, 36% governor), non-white people are much more likely to say they side more with the unions that represent public employee workers (51% vs. 19%).

Walker continues to lose the public relations war. That's something every Republican politician should note: union-busting is a fail with the public.

Pew Poll: Only Wealthiest Income Bracket Sides With Gov. Walker Over Unions
Jon Terbush | March 1, 2011, 3:29PM

In the debate over whether Wisconsin state workers should have the right to collectively bargain for better benefits, there is at least one group that sides with Gov. Scott Walker -- people wealthy enough that they probably don't need collective bargaining rights themselves.

That finding comes from a Pew poll released this week showing more Americans siding with the unions over Gov. Walker in the budget showdown that has deadlocked the Wisconsin legislature and sent thousands of protesters streaming into the state capitol. And strikingly, while Americans overall took the unions' side in the poll, the highest income demographic was the only one in which more people said they stood with Walker over the unions.

Overall, 42% of respondents said they side more with the unions, while 31% took Walker's position. Among those with annual household incomes under $30,000, that split was considerably larger, with 46% supporting the unions, and only 20% supporting Walker. People earning $30,000 to $74,999 per year also backed the unions, 49% to 31%.

Yet among those earning over $75,000 per year, 36% said they backed the unions, while slightly more, 40%, said they stood behind Walker.

Last week, a Gallup poll found the same result, with all income groups except the top bracket opposing the idea of collective bargaining rights.

The Pew survey was conducted February 24-27 among 1,009 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.