Poll: Majority Believes Unionized Government Workers Hurt Country

A new poll conducted by a conservative research group found a plurality of registered voters holds an unfavorable view of government employee unions, and half believe that public-sector unions hurt the country.

"Voters split 35 percent favorable and 40 percent unfavorable on government employee unions, but the overall number masks sharp partisan differences," the Resurgent Republic survey reported Wednesday.

"Democrats rate them favorably by 60 to 16 percent, but Republicans present a mirror image (18 percent favorable, 60 percent unfavorable), and Independents side with Republicans (28 percent favorable, 48 percent unfavorable).

In other findings, the survey of 1,000 registered voters found:

• Half the electorate (50-43 percent) believes government employee unions hurt the country. "The same partisan pattern seen with the favorable and unfavorable ratings, with Democrats on one side and Republicans and Independents on the other," the poll said.
• A majority of voters thinks the nation will never solve its long-term budget problems unless it addresses overly generous pay and benefits packages for government employees.

Unlike previous polls that disproportionately weighted their sample groups with unionized households, the March 1-3 Resurgent Republic survey selected respondents from a random-digit-dialing sample of cell phones and land lines. All respondents confirmed that they are registered to vote in the county in which they live. The party balance for registered voters in the sample is 31 percent Democrat, 37 percent Independent, and 27 percent Republican.