New Hart Research Shows Overwhelming Support for Employee Free Choice Act

Nearly four in five adults (78 percent) favor legislation that “makes it easier for workers to bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions,” according to new opinion research conducted by one of the country’s most respected polling firms, and 73 percent specifically support the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would give workers the freedom to bargain collectively for a better life. 

The survey of 1007 adults, conducted by Hart Research Associates from Dec. 4 to 10 and commissioned by the AFL-CIO, shows overwhelming support for the Employee Free Choice Act and its three main provisions. 

“In today’s economic squeeze, workers need the freedom to bargain their way into the middle class more than ever,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “This new research confirms that the vast majority of Americans support workers’ freedom to form unions to improve their lives and support the Employee Free Choice Act, which is key to making our economy work for everyone.”

Support for the Employee Free Choice Act is broad across political party and state lines. Three-quarters of moderate/liberal Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Independents support the legislation. Opposition is confined to Republicans who identify as conservatives (36 percent of them support the Employee Free Choice Act).  

Of the three parts of the Employee Free Choice Act, 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 corporations.  Seventy-five percent of adults favor allowing employees to have a union once a majority of employees in a workplace sign authorization cards saying they want one, including 44 percent who strongly support the idea.   Strong majorities also support strengthening penalties for companies that illegally intimidate or fire employees who try to organizes unions and establishing third party binding arbitration if necessary to ensure that workers who choose to form a union can get a contract. 

The AFL-CIO is engaged in a massive campaign to mobilize the public around restoring workers’ freedom to join unions.  In all 50 states, proponents of the legislation have worked with local community and elected leaders to discuss the need for the Employee Free Choice Act.  Over one million people have signed cards indicating their support for the legislation.

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