Although it’s technically illegal for public employees to strike in Massachusetts, we’ve seen a number of teachers’ strikes over the past year. Communities like Brookline, Malden, Haverhill and Woburn have seen educators walk out of the classroom to try to secure higher salaries and better working conditions.
We were wondering how voters in Massachusetts viewed this activity, so we asked the following question:
Do you support or oppose allowing public school teachers to go on strike to fight for higher wages and improved working conditions?
45% Strongly Support
21% Somewhat Support
11% Somewhat Oppose
18% Strongly Oppose
67% Support
29% Oppose
The response came back loud and clear: voters across the state support teachers striking for higher wages and better working conditions. The strength of their support is impressive, with nearly half of all voters (45%) strongly supporting the right to strike.
INSIDE THE DATA
Some interesting observations from the survey:
- Women overwhelmingly support the ability of teachers to strike at 75% – 20% (net +56% support) while a majority of men also support it at 56% – 39% (net +17 support).
- Young people also overwhelmingly support it at 83% – 12% (net +71 support), but all age groups are over 60% support.
- There is a huge 92-point gap between Biden voters who support it overwhelmingly at 82% – 15% (net +67 support), and Trump voters who oppose it at 34% – 59% (net -25 oppose).
- There is a similar gap by party affiliation, with Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents at 85% – 12% (net +73 support), Pure Independents at 56% – 38% (net +18 support), and Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents opposing it 39% – 54% (net -15 oppose).
(Polling was conducted online from February 20-23, 2023 and has a margin of error of 3.9%. Using its Bias Correct Engine to attain a representative sample, Change Research polled 711 likely 2024 voters in Massachusetts. The survey was conducted for Northwind Strategies.)