The people you serve turn against you

Tens of thousands of people turn out in Indiana to protest. You may win the battle in the streets, but the battle for public opinion, and ultimately that’s where the fight will be won or lost

In case you think things were turning around in terms of public opinion, fuhgeddaboudit,, as they say. For the first time, voters in California say labor unions do more harm than good. They may not be thinking about their police officers, but the results are worrisome nevertheless.

Read this editorial from the Sacramento Bee.

Public opinion turns against labor unions in California
By David Siders, dsiders@sacbee.com
Dec. 13, 2013 – 12:00 am

Public support for labor unions has plunged in California, with more voters for the first time saying they do more harm than good, according to a new Field Poll.

A plurality of registered voters – 45 percent – now feel that way, compared to 40 percent who say they do more good.

The poll registers a dramatic, 10 percentage point change in public opinion from two years ago, when voters rated labor unions far more positively. The measure follows heated controversies around public pensions, municipal bankruptcies and political campaigns involving organized labor – one of the most influential forces in California’s Democratic politics.

“It seems like they keep winning the battles,” Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said. “The question becomes, ‘Are they moving the public in the direction where they may lose the war?’”

DiCamillo attributed declining support for labor unions to growing concerns about public pension costs and, in the densely populated San Francisco Bay Area, frustration around recent transit strikes.

“It’s percolating more at the local level,” he said.

Labor unions secured a major victory when voters last year defeated Proposition 32, a measure designed to restrict unions’ ability to raise money for political campaigns. But San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed gained national attention after filing paperwork this fall to place a public pension ballot measure on next November’s ballot, and two Bay Area Rapid Transit District strikes contributed to a proposal by Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, to strip BART employees of their right to strike.

Californians are divided about whether public transit workers should be allowed to strike, with 47 percent of voters saying they should have this right and 44 percent saying they shouldn’t, according to the poll. Despite the San Francisco Bay Area’s liberal leaning, a majority of voters in the area – 52 percent – say public transit workers should not be allowed to go on strike.

The public’s view of labor unions overall is highly partisan, with a majority of Democrats supportive of organized labor and a majority of Republicans opposed.

But labor unions have lost support they once enjoyed among independent voters. While 48 percent of independent voters said in 2011 that labor unions do more good than harm, just 39 percent say so today. Among independent voters, a plurality – 44 percent – say labor unions do more harm.

“All they really care about is getting their dues,” said Thomas O’Ferrall, a 55-year-old heavy equipment operator and Republican from Ione. “When unions started it was a good thing. It was about people and rights and protecting the people. But it’s so far away from that anymore.”

Labor unions continue to register support among Latinos and voters under 30, while whites and older voters rate unions more negatively.

Californians’ view of public employee unions, in particular, is similar to their assessment of labor unions overall, according to the poll. By a 44 percent to 39 percent margin, voters say public employee unions do more harm than good.