With the decline in union membership slipping generally unabated over the last 25 years, what are the prospects for a turnaround?

At the moment, not so good. A nationwide Zogby poll conducted last summer and released to Michigan AFL-CIO delegates last month offered little encouragement that American workers have a positive attitude about unions.

Zogby's poll of 802 workers found that just 35 percent of nonunion workers would consider voting to unionize their workplace, while a 56% majority would not. The poll also finds workers nationwide are generally content with their jobs and their employers.

Less than half (16 percent) of those 35 percent of nonunion workers would "definitely" vote to unionize. By comparison, 38 percent of that 56% majority "definitely" would not vote to unionize their workplace. Those trends were strongest among workers age 30 to 49.

The survey found men more likely to oppose unionizing their workplace, by a 61% to 50% margin versus women, and married people are more likely to oppose unionization than single people by a 61% to 51% margin.

The survey also found that, on a host of other issues, workers were generally content with their present employment. When asked if they were happy or unhappy with their jobs and interested in finding new positions, more than seven-in-ten (72%) indicated they were content with their current jobs, while just one-in-four (27%) were unhappy.

Three-in-five workers (60%) approve of labor unions in general, while just a bare majority (52%) say that unions remain necessary. The polls found that 39% believe that while organized labor may once have been needed, its time has passed.

Despite this generally favorable impression of unions, however, a 46% plurality of workers believe organized labor exerts too much influence on government, while a lower 39% believe unions should exert more power.

"The present controversy within the AFL-CIO revolves around the continued decline in union membership and organizing failures," said David Denholm of the Public Service Research Foundation, which sponsored the poll. "These survey results seem to indicate that, under present circumstances, no amount of organizing effort would be able to turn around the decline."