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Majorities Of People Disagree With IR Reforms, Think They Will Be Bad For Australia
A majority of Australians (57%) disagree with the Federal Government’s Industrial Relations reforms introduced last week, 20% agree and 23% couldn’t say a special Roy Morgan telephone survey finds. This is an increase of 8% from the 49% of Australians who disagreed in October 2005 when the reforms were proposed. Those who agree with the reforms are up 3% to 20% and those who couldn’t say or hadn’t heard of the reforms in October 2005 are down 11% from 34%. A similar majority (52%) think the reforms will be a bad thing for Australia up 2% on October 2005 (50%), 27% think they will be a good thing down 2% (from 27%) and 21% (unchanged) couldn’t say. Only 13% of Australians think they will be better off under the reforms, this is up 3% on October 2005 (10%), a substantial 49% think they will not be better off (up 10 % from 39%) and 38% couldn’t say (up 7% from 31%). Importantly women are more concerned about the reforms than men: more women than men think the reforms will be a bad thing for Australia (57% cf. 47%) and disagree with the reforms (59% cf. 56%). Men are more likely to think the reforms will be a good thing for Australia (33% cf 21%), to agree with the reforms (22% cf. 17%) and to think they will be better off (14% cf 11%). Gary Morgan says:
Those surveyed were asked to comment on why they agreed or disagreed with the Industrial Relations reforms. Many of those who supported the reforms believed there should be less restrictions on small business owners: “I run a small business and don’t want to exploit workers, but we have a lot of problems getting rid of bad employees under new and old laws”, “Employers have been restricted heavily in their abilities in the past and this allows more freedom”, “The relationship between workers and employers is one-sided in favour of employee’s rights. Australia is going to be uncompetitive in global markets without these reforms” and “This country is lazy and greedy — people want big money but don’t want to give their all. Small companies should have the right to sack people”. Other supporters of the reforms argued that the less union power the better: “I think employers should have some say. My husband, we had a bakery that employed staff, but we still had union rules that were really just a bit too much. If you have a person working for you and it’s not working, it’s just not fair”, “Unions have too much power. They’ve held this country to ransom, especially with strikes on the wharfs. People are scared of going against the unions” and “I agree with the reforms but they didn’t do a good enough job telling people about it. I’m not real big on unions, so restricting their powers is a good thing. Government need to market and publicise it better — people still don’t know enough about the new rules”. Amongst those who disagreed with the reforms many argued that they gave too much power to employers: “They have turned the clock back about 100 years. They have basically emasculated all unions. It’s nice to say that the workers are protected, but the news every night has examples of bosses sacking their workers”, “I think the blue collar worker is not capable without the unions to organise and help negotiate their agreements” and “It’s taking away worker’s rights and giving too much power to the employer. It inhibits the unions, was passed underhandedly, without people knowing”. Others who disagreed with the reforms believed they would result in lower conditions of employment and less pay for employees: “The Government has made the assumption that there is an equal position between the employer and the employees but it is not the case. The employer is always in a more powerful position and employees lack bargaining power”, “We have been living with it in the mining industry for years — all conditions and security have been eroded. Worker’s values and families have been destroyed — workplace agreements place emphasis on production and not safety” and “I think the conditions that they’re taking away from working-class people have been fought for a long time. What right have they got to take them away? It’s not an answer for all” Others still argued the reforms would exacerbate the trend away from full-time employment to casual positions: “It goes the employer’s way, not the employees. Everything will be casual and you won’t be able to get full-time work”, “I don’t like how employees are going from permanent back to casual. There’s no guarantee of your job anymore — here today, gone tomorrow. If you don’t get along with your boss or supervisor, you can lose your job” and “It’s just a way of keeping the lower-payed workers down. They put people off and then re-employ them with less pay. They take away their conditions”. This special telephone Morgan Poll was conducted on the evenings of April 5/6, 2006, with 669 respondents aged 14 and over Australia-wide. 1. - Agree Or Disagree With Industrial Relations Reforms? Respondents were asked: “Do you agree or disagree with the Industrial Relations reforms?” Men were more likely than women (22% cf.17%) to agree with the reforms. Analysis by age shows those aged 50 and over were more likely (21%) than any other age group to agree with the Industrial Relations reforms.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution Supporters of the L-NP were more likely than supporters of any other party to agree with the Government’s Industrial Relations reforms, with 39% agreeing. Only 4% of supporters of the ALP agreed with the reforms.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution *Includes all respondents who were undecided on voting intention, plus those ineligible to vote and those aged 14-17 On a State-by-state basis, those living in WA were most likely (at 24%) to agree with the reforms. Those living in Victoria were the least likely (15%) to agree with the Industrial Relations reforms.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution White Collar workers were more likely than Blue Collar workers (23% cf 15%) to agree with the Industrial Relations reforms. Only 6% of Union members agree with the reforms compared with 23% of non-Union members.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution 2. - Family Better Off With Industrial Relations Reforms? Respondents were then asked: “In your opinion will you and your family be better off with the Industrial Relations reforms, or not?” Men were more likely than women (14% cf. 11%) to believe that they and their family would be better off under the reforms, as were those aged 18 to 24 with 21%.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution Supporters of the L-NP were most likely to think that they and their family would be better off under the Industrial Relations reforms, with 21%, whilst only 5% of ALP supporters though that they and their family would be better off.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution *Includes all respondents who were undecided on voting intention, plus those ineligible to vote and those aged 14-17 Those living in WA were the most likely (18%) to think that they and their families would be better off under the reforms, whilst Tasmanians were the least likely to think they and their families would be better off, with 4%.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution White Collar workers were more likely than Blue Collar workers (15% cf 10%) to think that they and their family would be better off under the Industrial Relations reforms. A clear majority of union members (74%) think they will not be better off under the proposed Industrial Relations reforms compared with 45% of non-union members.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution 3. - Good Thing Or Bad Thing For Australia Respondents were then asked: “Overall, do you think the Industrial Relations reforms will be a good thing or a bad thing for Australia?” A majority of women (57%) think that that the Industrial Relations reforms will be a bad thing for Australia. Analysis by age shows that those aged 25 to 34 (57%) are the most likely to think that the reforms will be a bad thing for Australia.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution L-NP supporters are the most likely (49%) to think the reforms will be good for Australia, a sentiment shared by only 8% of ALP supporters.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution *Includes all respondents who were undecided on voting intention, plus those ineligible to vote and those aged 14-17 On a state-by-state basis, Western Australians (34%) are most likely to think the reforms will be good for Australia, while Victorians are most likely to think that the reforms will be bad for Australia.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution White Collar workers (28%) are more likely than Blue Collar workers (24%) to think that the reforms will be a good thing for Australia. Seventy-eight percent of Union members, compared to 48% of Non-Union members, think the Industrial Relations reforms will be bad for Australia.
# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution This special telephone Morgan Poll was conducted on the evenings of April 5/6, 2006, with 669 respondents aged 14 and over Australia-wide.
Gary Morgan: Office +61 3 9224 5213 Mobile +61 411 129 094 Home +61 3 9419 3242 Michele Levine: Office +61 3 9224 5215 Mobile +61 411 129 093 Home +61 3 9817 3066
The Morgan Poll is conducted by the ONLY Australian and New Zealand member of No Other public opinion poll taken in Australia has this qualification. |
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