New Polls: Ties to Labor's Liberal Agenda Pose Risks for Candidates

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) today released results from a series of surveys in the battleground states of Minnesota, Colorado and Maine conducted by McLaughlin & Associates.

Nearly two-thirds of voters in Colorado (68%), Maine (72%) and Minnesota (65%) oppose the EFCA. Moreover, voters in Minnesota and Colorado would be less likely to support candidates who support the EFCA. Specifically, a plurality of voters would be less likely to vote for Mark Udall (44%) and Al Franken (41%) if they support this legislation. Moreover, at least 80% of voters in all three states believe that secret ballot elections are the cornerstone of democracy and should be kept for union elections.

"It's clear that opposing the private ballot for workers is a political liability for candidates, particularly those running in tight races," said Brian Worth, vice president of the Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc. and member of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. "Our polling shows that this issue is a potential millstone for candidates who get on the wrong side of voters' rights to privacy and a workplace free from intimidation," added Worth.

In an effort to fight declining union membership, the labor lobby has aggressively sought passage of the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Under the EFCA, workers would lose their right to a private ballot when deciding whether to join a union. The private ballot would be replaced with a "card-check" scheme where a union is organized if a majority of workers simply sign a card; the workers' signatures are made public to their employer, the union organizers and their co-workers.

    Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement:
    "Secret and private ballot elections are the cornerstone of democracy and
    should be kept for union elections."

           CO   Union    Non-     ME    Union   Non-     MN    Union    Non-
          Total  HH    Union HH  Total   HH   Union HH  Total   HH    Union HH

    Agree  82    90       83      80     86      79      82     82      82
    Dis-
     agree  9     5       10      10      7      11      10     13       9


    If an election were held to decide whether workers would organize a union,
    which one of the following types of elections is the best way to protect
    the individual rights of workers?  Having a process where a union is
    organized if a majority of workers simply sign a card and the workers'
    signatures are made public to their employer, the union organizers and
    their co-workers.  OR, having a federally supervised secret and private
    ballot election where workers privately vote yes or no on whether to
    authorize union representation.

             CO  Union    Non-      ME   Union   Non-      MN   Union  Non-
           Total  HH    Union HH  Total   HH   Union HH  Total   HH   Union HH
    Sign
     Card    17   22       15       12     6      14       16    15     16
    Secret
     Ballot  72   69       74       77    83      76       72    72     73


    Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for Mark Udall/Al Franken
    for US Senate if you knew that he supported legislation to take away a
    worker's right to have a federally supervised secret and private ballot
    election when deciding whether to organize a union and replace that secret
    and private ballot system with a card check system that would make public
    how each worker voted to both union leaders and his or her employer?  If
    it would make no difference, just say so.

                    CO       Union    Non-        MN     Union     Non-
                   Total      HH     Union HH    Total    HH     Union HH
    More Likely     13        20       11         11      11        11
    Less Likely     44        44       45         41      37        45
    No Difference   27        21       29         25      27        24


    Should federal laws be changed by Congress to make it much easier for
    unions to hold elections in non-union work places to organize more workers
    into unions or should the laws be left the way they are now?

             CO  Union    Non-      ME   Union   Non-      MN   Union  Non-
           Total  HH    Union HH  Total   HH   Union HH  Total   HH   Union HH
    Make
     Easier  30   49       26       25    36      23       30    41     26
    Left the
     Way They
     Are Now 56   35       62       57    48      59       50    45     52

Methodology: McLaughlin & Associates conducted statewide surveys among general election voters in Colorado (n=400), Maine (n=400) and Minnesota (n=500) between March 6th and 9th, 2008. All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers via telephone. Interview selection was at random within predetermined election units. These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual voter distributions in statewide general elections. The accuracy of the samples of 400 likely general election voters is within +/- 4.9% at a 95% confidence interval. The accuracy of the sample of 500 likely general election voters is within +/- 4.5% 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. For more information and a complete listing of our membership, please visit http://www.MyPrivateBallot.com.

SOURCE Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

Copyright © 2009, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2009, NewsBlaze, Daily News

Tags: ,WRK,SVY,LBR,DC-Coalition-New-Poll

   _   _