Many Still Think Unions Are Needed

Two-thirds of Americans believe labor unions are still needed, while more than a third say unions have too much power, according to a poll released on Labor Day eve.

The Time-CNN survey found little significant change in opinion about organized labor from the news organizations’ polls dating to 1990.

When the new poll asked respondents if American workers still need labor unions, 68 percent said yes, down from 73 percent in a March 1990 Time-CNN poll. Statistically, that’s a slight drop; the poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In 1990, 40 percent of the respondents felt the unions had too much power; 35 percent said that in the new poll.

Forty-four percent said they had a generally favorable opinion of labor unions, a statistical tie with the 41 percent who said that in June 1994. Thirty-eight percent in the new poll viewed unions unfavorably, down from 45 percent in June 1994.