Direct Experience with Poor Working Conditions and Partisan Labor Policy Preferences

Do Republicans and Democrats who hold jobs with poor working conditions have similar views on pro-union labor policy? Extensive research in American political behavior counsels against such an expectation as a long line of research suggests individuals absorb the views of their party and therefore Republicans and Democrats should hold vastly different views on labor policy. However, this underestimates the potentially meaningful role of personal experience in policy preferences as a potential counterweight to partisanship. A key limitation to testing this has been the absence of data with workers’ preferences and direct measures of working conditions. This study draws on original data on 5,425 service sector workers to examine the relationship between partisanship, direct experience with poor working conditions, and labor policy preferences. The results suggest partisanship is an important determinant of labor policy preferences, but only when workers work in relatively good jobs. Among workers with good working conditions, partisanship is influential and Republicans and Democrats hold significantly different views on labor policy. Yet as working conditions deteriorate, the role of partisanship diminishes and Republican and Democratic workers' views converge and align with both embracing pro-union labor policy preferences.