Phony New York Times/CBS News Poll On Public Union Collective Bargaining Rights

According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits.

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These findings, which the Times reports on p.1 in its March 1st edition, are consistent with some other recent polls, but are misleading because of the way in which the questions were framed. The questions themselves, which appear on p.18, include the following:

Collective bargaining refers to negotiations between an employer and a labor union’s members to determine the conditions of employment. Some states are trying to take away some of the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions. Do you favor or oppose taking away some of the collective bargaining rights of these unions?

Only 33% were in favor of “taking away some of the collective bargaining rights.” 60% of respondents were opposed. However, the question’s phrasing helped produce this skewed result. More...