In case you missed it, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found majority support for employees in public-sector unions:
Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent. While a slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights, they were outnumbered by large majorities of Democrats and independents who said they opposed weakening them.
Those surveyed said they opposed, 56 percent to 37 percent, cutting the pay or benefits of public employees to reduce deficits, breaking down along similar party lines. A majority of respondents who have no union members living in their households opposed both cuts in pay or benefits and taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
Americans aren't exactly fond of unions -- 37 percent say they have too much influence on American life and politics -- but they also aren't thrilled about hurting public employees to fix state finances. If I had to offer a quick explanation, I'd say this: For the last 30 years, unions have been scorned by elites, with Republicans vilifying them and Democrats keeping them at arm's length. The public has basically absorbed these attitudes and now imagines unions as organizations with outsized -- and negative -- influence on American life. That said, most people know a public worker -- or work in the public sector themselves -- and aren't particularly thrilled about seeing them lose pay and benefits. And indeed, when asked what they would be willing to do to reduce their state's budget deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes, as opposed to the 22 percent who said they would decrease benefits for public employees.
This, also, was a telling bit of survey information:
Although cutting the pay or benefits of public workers was opposed by people in all income groups, it had the most support from people earning over $100,000 a year. In that income group, 45 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 49 percent opposed it. In every other income group, a majority opposed cutting pay or benefits: Among those making between $15,000 and $30,000, for instance, 35 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 60 percent opposed it.
Unsurprisingly, upper-income people prefer lower benefits for public employees to higher taxes on themselves. And fortunately for them, as the people most likely to find sympathy from lawmakers, they'll probably get their way.
