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Monday, March 7, 2011

New Poll: Wisconsin Voters Like Teachers, But Not Gov. Walker | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG #WeAreWI #WIUnion

New Poll: Wisconsin Voters Like Teachers, But Not Gov. Walker | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

New Poll: Wisconsin Voters Like Teachers, But Not Gov. Walker

by James Parks, Mar 7, 2011

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Another poll in Wisconsin shows the public is strongly opposed to Gov. Scott Walker’s attacks on public employees’ freedom to bargain. The latest poll, commissioned by a conservative think tank, theWisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), shows 51 percent of voters disapprove of Walker’s plan, and nearly two of three (65 percent) say he should compromise on his budget proposal and its anti-public employee union provisions.

On the other hand the Democrats in the state legislature, public employee unions in general and teachers’ unions in particular all have much higher favorable ratings than Walker does. Democrats in the legislature–including the Wisconsin 14, state senators who left the state in order to block a vote on the proposals–received a 50 percent favorable rating with 42 percent disapproving of the job they’re doing. Fifty-nine percent of voters view public employee unions and teachers’ unions favorably.

On the other hand, voters do not approve of the job Walker is doing by a 53 percent – 43 percent margin. That’s also the margin when it comes to Walker’s personal favorable rating.

Check out the WPRI poll here. This poll is just the latest to show Walker’s attacks on public workers is turning off voters. Check out reports on other polls here and here.