Business and Labor

In its Topic A feature, the Washington Post asked several experts -- among them the Pew Research Center's Director of Survey Research Scott Keeter -- who's winning and who's losing in the fight over public-employee unions.

Overview The public remains deeply frustrated with the federal government, but fewer Americans say they are angry at government than did so last fall. Overall, the percentage saying they are angry with the federal government has fallen from 23% last September to 14% today, with much of the decline coming among Republicans and Tea Party […]

Overview By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin’s public employee unions rather than the state’s governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 31% say they side more with the governor, Scott Walker, according to the latest Pew Research […]

The bitter fight over union rights in Wisconsin calls to mind a labor battle that helped define the first year of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

Overview The favorability ratings for labor unions remain at nearly their lowest level in a quarter century with 45% expressing a positive view. Yet the public expresses similar opinions about business corporations – 47% have a favorable impression – and this rating is also near a historic low. Americans express mixed views of the impact […]

Union members are one voting bloc that continues to strongly back their party's candidates -- the downside of that support is that labor unions have fallen out of favor with the broader public, including independents who will cast the decisive votes in this year's elections.

Americans are widely dissatisfied not only with government but with most major institutions. One notable exception: the technology industry.