Poll: Public supports unions, public employees

A new poll published by the New York Times and CBS says that most Americans support public employee unions and collective bargaining rights.

And rather than see public employees such as teachers lose salaries and benefits, more Americans would agree to a tax increase.

The poll, published on February 28, includes these results:

• More Americans have a favorable opinion of unions (33%) than unfavorable (25%), with 19% undecided and 20% needing more information.
• The percentage of Americans who believe labor unions have too much influence over our life and politics is shrinking dramatically.
• A solid majority of American believe that public employee salaries and benefits are either about right or too low: 36% believe the salaries and benefits are about right, 25% believe they are too low, and 26% believe they are too high.