Over at FireDogLake Tula Connell has posted a detailed report on polling done relating to the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s not surprising that in these tough economic times, an overwhelming majority of Americans think workers need to be able to organize.

The survey, conducted Dec. 4–10 for the AFL-CIO by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, found:

• 75 percent of those surveyed support recognizing a union when a majority of workers have signed up in support.
• 64 percent support strengthening penalties against companies who illegally intimidate or fire workers who are trying to form a union.
• 61 percent favor binding arbitration if a company will not agree to a first contract. (This provision had the highest number of respondents who weren’t sure how they felt about it.)

Support for the Employee Free Choice Act crosses party and state lines, with 74 percent of those who identify as moderate or liberal Republicans in favor. Conservative Republicans were the only group not expressing majority support.

Those surveyed were told arguments for and against the bill, including the falsehood spread by opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act that it would take away the secret ballot (it wouldn’t). Support remains steady, even when those surveyed heard messages from both supporters and opponents of the bill.

The survey found that most people don’t realize the extent to which management fights workers’ efforts to form unions. That matters because the more people realize employers harass and intimidate workers, the more they support the Employee Free Choice Act.

It’s really great news that Big Business astroturfing and huge paid media campaigns aren’t  penetrating public consciousness. There rhetoric isn’t passing the smell test…maybe it’s because big corporate lobbyists and shills like Rick Berman have vastily underestimated the intelligence of the American public. It will be interesting to see how the forces opposed to worker rights rejigger their efforts in the face of failure to find a successful message to pitch their swill.