Gallup: Americans Support Employee Free Choice by 14 Point Majority

An independent Gallup poll released this morning reveals broad and strong majority support for the Employee Free Choice Act, with 53 percent of Americans supporting its passage, and just 39 percent opposing the bill. The bill is favored not just by Democrats, but by an 11-point majority of registered independents. As the first independent poll on Employee Free Choice in many months, the Gallup poll generally buttresses the validity of the polling performed by Peter Hart for the AFL-CIO, and completely invalidates the bogus "polling" pushed by astroturf anti-worker groups.

The timing of this news couldn't be better, as it should help stiffen the spines of Congress to move quickly to pass Employee Free Choice - as written - and get it to President Obama's desk for signing. As Gallup itself states:

Previous Gallup polling has shown that Americans are fundamentally sympathetic to labor unions, and these underlying attitudes are no doubt reflected in their general support for legislation characterized as making it easier for workers to unionize. For example, Gallup's annual polling on workplace issues, conducted each August, has found consistently high approval of labor unions in recent years, including a 59% approval rating last summer. The current level of support for a new law facilitating more union membership -- 53% in favor -- is only slightly less favorable to unions.

The current findings could bode well for the pro-union side of the issue as it ramps up the public-information component of its lobbying efforts, particularly at a time when corporate America has serious image problems. Americans appear to be a sympathetic audience for a basic argument behind the law if it is described simply as making it easier for unions to organize.

With strong majority support for labor law reform, now is not the time to dither and allow corporate America time to spin, lie, and lobby to bash workers -- in some cases, with our taxpayer money.  Like President Obama, Americans want the free, uncoerced choice to join a union, and they want it now.