AFL-CIO poll finds Trump losing support among union members

by Nikita Vladimirov - 10/28/16 10:27 AM ET

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s support among union members has rapidly declined since June, according to polling conducted for the nation’s largest labor federation.

{mosads}”In June, when we polled union members in Trump target states, we found that 41 percent supported him. But today, only 33 percent support him, even as working people constitute the greatest share of his base,” wrote AFL-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer.

According to the AFL-CIO, which has endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, Trump’s support in Ohio has decreased by 11 percentage points since June. It has fallen in Pennsylvania by 9 points and dropped in Florida by 7 points, the federation said.

“Trump is actually running behind Mitt Romney with union members,” Podhorzer wrote, adding that “about a third of union members self-identify as Republicans.”

The reason for the rapid decline in support, according to Podhorzer, is due to union members losing trust in Trump’s “blue collar rhetoric.”

“Union members now know that Trump outsources his products and uses low-quality Chinese steel in his buildings. Union members now know that Trump has routinely stiffed people working for him, and he won’t negotiate with newly unionized workers at his property in Las Vegas,” he wrote.

Podhorzer concluded statement by calling unions “a powerful defense against demagogues like Donald Trump.”

“Union members will vote for Hillary Clinton, and a better future,” he added.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton