Friday, April 01, 2011

Poll: Americans favor unions over GOP governors in labor disputes

By David Edwards

More Americans back unions over governors who are trying to curb collective bargaining rights, according to a recent poll.

The polling organization Gallup found that 48 percent, or nearly half of Americans agree more with state employee labor unions. Only 39 percent favored governors in those states.

An additional 13 percent agreed with neither or had no opinion.

The results were split along party lines. In all, 65 percent of Republicans supported governors, while 70 percent of Democrats chose unions.

Republican governors in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Maine and several other states have all proposed stripping union rights.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed into law Thursday a bill that bans strikes and curbs collective bargaining rights.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed a similar bill into law last month, after weeks of protests by public workers.

The Wisconsin governor agreed Thursday to honor a judge's order to temporarily halt implementation of the law.

The Gallup survey of 1,027 adults was conducted March 25-27.

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