 A new Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll debunks a popular perception that
support for unions and support for Right to Work are mutually exclusive.
A majority of residents polled – 57.2 percent – expressed a favorable view of
unions. And 48 percent also support the principles behind Right-to-Work laws.
A key takeaway from this poll is that Illinoisans support worker freedom – and
that education on the issues could lead even more residents to support important
labor reforms.
48 percent of respondents – including 40 percent of union households – support
Right-to-Work laws, and only 24 percent oppose them
Right-to-Work laws allow workers to opt out of union membership and opt out of
financially supporting the union. In sum, a worker cannot lose his or her job
because he doesn’t want to pay fees to a union he does not support.
Poll respondents supported Right-to-Work by a 2-to-1 margin: 48 percent
supported right-to-work, while only 24.2 percent opposed.
However, more than a quarter of respondents were unsure how to answer the
question: 27.8 percent of those asked whether they favor or oppose right-to-work
laws answered “other/don’t know.”
That’s a significant number of “undecideds,” which shows Illinoisans need more
information on the benefits of Right-to-Work laws and other reforms that would
provide more freedom to workers.
By a slim margin, more union households supported Right-to-Work laws than
opposed them. The poll found that 40 percent of union households supported
Right-to-Work, 38 percent opposed right-to-work, while 22 percent “didn’t know.”
50 percent of respondents thought workers should not be forced to pay union dues
In addition to the question specifically asking respondents their feelings on
Right-to-Work laws, respondents were asked to pick which of the following
statements comes closer to their own views:
- When everyone in the workplace shares the gains won by a labor union,
all workers should have to contribute to the union’s costs for negotiating
those gains, or
- No American should be required to pay dues to a private organization
like a labor union against their will.
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 When given those two options, 50 percent of respondents stated
that workers “shouldn’t be forced to pay dues.” While not
specifically referencing Right-to-Work, that is exactly what this
particular statement supports: the ability to maintain a job without
being forced to give fees to a union a worker does not support.
On the other hand, 44.3 percent of respondents felt that everyone
should pay the costs unions allegedly incur in negotiating contracts
for workers.
Unfortunately, the polling only provided two choices: forced payment
to a union representing a worker vs. no forced payment to a union
representing a worker. It failed to give a third option: the ability
of a worker to opt out of that union representation altogether.
This sort of arrangement – when an employee opts out of union
membership, union dues and union representation – is known as
“Worker’s Choice.” As its name indicates, Worker’s Choice allows
workers a choice: become a member and accept all of the applicable
union requirements (including dues), or opt out of union
representation (and dues) altogether. The State could enact a law
granting Worker’s Choice to public-sector employees (because
private-sector unions are governed by the federal National Labor
Relations Act, it would take a federal law to grant Worker’s Choice
freedoms to workers in the private sector).
Importantly, Worker’s Choice represents a viable third option to the
two options provided in the polling. Worker’s Choice means that any
worker who does not join the union represents himself in
negotiations with the employer. The union is not responsible for
such workers.
Including Worker’s Choice as an option might have made a difference
for those poll respondents who did not think a worker should benefit
from union “gains” without contributing financially to the union.
Overall, the polling represents a hopeful outlook for the future of
labor reform in Illinois. Support for unions and support for reforms
are not mutually exclusive. Illinoisans lean toward reforms that
will provide workers with more freedom – and that support should
only increase as residents become more informed.
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