Labor Day Poll: Labor Unions Down Sharply in Public Support … Majority Believe that Unions Hurt US Economy

On this Labor Day 2009, check out the following Gallup poll regarding Labor Union approval/disapproval, via Powerline. Only 48% of Americans approved of unions. This represents the first sub-50% approval since Gallup first asked the question in the 1930s. By a 51% to 39% amount, Americans are saying that Unions hurt the general economy.

Gallup finds organized labor taking a significant image hit in the past year. While 66% of Americans continue to believe unions are beneficial to their own members, a slight majority now say unions hurt the nation’s economy. More broadly, fewer than half of Americans — 48%, an all-time low — approve of labor unions, down from 59% a year ago.

Less than half of Americans now approve of Unions. This is really some damning polling for unions.

Labor Union support has fallen to an all time low in American public support. As Michelle Malkin states, Big Labor, Big Trouble.

This is certainly more bad news for Democrats who count on the Union base for voted. As per Byron York, “The numbers do not bode well for Democrats’ desire to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”

“The numbers do not bode well for Democrats’ desire to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”, or card-check, which would eliminate the right to a secret ballot in union elections, or even a weaker version of the bill, which would provide for mandatory arbitration in unionization battles.

Powerline has an interesting premise on the sharp drop from last years Presidential election year.

Why would someone favor unions last year but disapprove of them this year? Maybe it has to do with card check or the bailouts, or, more broadly, people being reminded of how union bosses behave when they’re in power