Seven in 10 voters concerned about federal legislation repealing right-to-work laws, forcing workers to pay union dues or risk losing their job.

Nearly eight in 10 voters concerned about privacy issues.

Washington, D.C. – A new national survey shows U.S. voters have serious concerns regarding the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the impact the federal legislation would have on workers’ rights and small businesses if enacted by Congress.

According to the survey, voters are most concerned that the PRO Act, which would drastically rewrite labor regulations in the U.S. and repeal right-to-work laws in 27 states, would force employees to join a union and pay dues to retain their job, require employers to turn over employees’ personal information to union organizers, negatively impact small businesses and put independent contractors out of work.

Key findings:

• Seven out of 10 voters are concerned about repealing state right-to-work protections for workers and forcing them to pay union dues or risk losing their job.
• Three out of four voters are concerned about requiring employers to turn over employees’ personal information to union organizers without the consent of the employee.
• Seven out of 10 voters are concerned the PRO Act limits the ability of individuals to work as independent contractors.
• 57 percent of voters believe that Americans should not be forced to join a union as a condition of employment.
• 67 percent of voters are concerned about eliminating ‘secret ballot’ union elections.
• Nearly seven out of 10 (65 percent) voters are concerned about upending the franchise business model, turning existing owners of franchises into employees of their brand and reducing new franchise ownership opportunities.
• Only 34 percent of U.S. voters think unions should have more influence.

Kristen Swearingen, Chair of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), representing more than 600 major business and industry groups, said the survey illustrates what its members have been hearing across the country:

“Despite our nation’s fragile economic recovery, lawmakers in Washington are pushing the PRO Act, which would force businesses across the country to permanently close and lay off countless workers,” stated Swearingen.

Swearingen continued, “Voters across the country are clearly concerned about the PRO Act’s negative impact on workers and small businesses. From taking away independent contracting jobs from moms working at home to stripping vital privacy protections from all Americans to forcing workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment, the PRO Act would radically change our country’s labor laws and lead to a significant regression in our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The national survey of 1,006 registered voters was conducted by Forbes Tate Partners, a bipartisan government affairs and research firm, from May 25 through June 2, 2021.

Click here for more information on the negative impacts of the PRO Act.

 

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About The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

CDW is a broad-based coalition of hundreds of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of employers and millions of employees in various industries across the country concerned with a long-standing effort by some in the labor movement to make radical changes to the National Labor Relations Act without regard to the severely negative impact they would have on employees, employers, and the economy. CDW was originally formed in 2005 in opposition to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) – a bill similar to the PRO Act – that would have stripped employees of the right to secret ballots in union representation elections and allowed arbitrators to set contract terms regardless of the consequence to workers or businesses.

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