Half of Americans Think Unions Have Too Much Political Influence

Half of American voters think labor unions have an outsized role in the country’s politics, a new poll has found.

Additionally, according to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports, 57 percent of respondents say union leaders are out of touch with their members. Just one in five Americans believe labor executives do a good job representing union members.

The same rate of of respondents who are now or have ever been union members said union leaders are out of touch and the groups have too much political clout. One in three current or former union members say unions do not have enough influence, compared to one in four among the general population and just one in five among non-union members.

Democrats are, unsurprisingly, much more sympathetic to unions and their leaders. Just one-third of the more labor-friendly party think the groups have too much influence, while nearly 70 percent of Republicans say the same.

Fran Coombs, Rasmussen’s managing director, told Government Executive his organization studied the union issue to determine why Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was appealing to rust belt voters. He said the results mirrored his expectations, and suggest Trump’s candidacy may be creating a resurgence of “Reagan Democrats.”

He added union members seeing their leadership spend and organize on political activity that they do not support might have led to the disappointment voiced in the survey.  

The findings, Coombs wrote in an analysis of the results, suggest Democrats are “leaning toward Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump because of his positions on jobs and free trade even though union leaders are solidly behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.”

Nearly all federal employee unions have endorsed Clinton, though the group representing Border Patrol agents has thrown its support behind Trump.