Zogby Poll Finds Support for Union Accountability Among Union Members

The renowned pollster John Zogby has found that a strong majority of union members support requiring union bosses to give detailed reports of union finances to discourage union corruption, and the Right to Work without paying union dues as a condition of employment.  The poll was conducted for, and released by, the Public Service Research Fdtn. (PSRF) on March 4.

 

The Zogby poll was conducted from Feb. 5-9 this year, with 1,207 adults interviewed to form the sample group.  According to the poll, 73 pct. of Americans agree that individual wrkrs. should be free to decide for themselves whether to financially support a union, regardless of whether they are represented by that union.  Even 54 pct. of union members agree with that statement.

 

AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney has claimed that recent reforms of the financial disclosure forms required to be filed with the U.S. Dept. of Labor by the nation’s wealthiest unions have “…no widespread support among union members at all.”  But the Zogby poll found that 71 pct. of union members agree that Govt. should do more to protect members from corruption by requiring detailed reporting of union finances.  Among those union members who said they oppose unions, but were likely forced to pay union dues, nearly a quarter — 23 pct. — cited corruption as the reason for their opposition.

 

The Zogby poll can be read on the PSRF web site at http://psrf.org/info/zogby.jsp