Under Comrade Obama and his Red Congress, Big Labor has seen its political power and rent-seeking capacity reach astronomical heights. From granting it the act euphemistically known as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to handing it GM and Chrysler to trying to exempt it from the new taxes on healthcare bene- fits that the rest of us would have to pay under Obamacare, Democratic politicians have given Big Labor the time of its life. And it has waged economic jihad against business- men and taxpayers alike.
But apparently the public has been paying attention, because the favorability rating of unions has been drop- ping like a stone. According to a Pew Research Center survey performed in February, only about 41% of Americans say they have a favorable view of labor unions, down from 58% in 2007. The percentage of people who have an unfavorable view now exceeds the percentage of those with a favorable one, 42% to 41%.
Naturally, there is great variation by party affiliation. Only 29% of Republicans have a favorable view of unions, compared to 38% of independents and 56% of Democrats. (Maybe that explains why in every election trial lawyers contribute lavishly to Democratic candidates.) The drop is again significant from 2007, when 47% of Republicans had a favorable view, as did 54% of independents and 70% of Democrats.
The Pew Research Center is hardly a right-wing think tank, so union advocates will have trouble pooh-poohing the survey data. In any case, the data are consistent with a Gallup poll of last year, which showed that only 48% of all Americans approved of unions — the lowest percent- age since Gallup started surveying pro-union sentiment in 1936.
