Q. How important are unions for Australian working people today?
| June
2020 |
October
2015 |
February
2014 |
December
2013 |
May
2013 |
September
2012 |
March
2012 |
|
| Very important | 24% | 26% | 27% | 22% | 21% | 16% | 19% |
| Quite important | 37% | 36% | 34% | 35% | 35% | 36% | 37% |
| Not very important | 17% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| Not at all important | 7% | 7% | 9% | 12% | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 10% | 9% |
| TOTAL: Important | 60% | 62% | 61% | 57% | 56% | 52% | 56% |
| TOTAL: Not important | 24% | 28% | 30% | 34% | 36% | 38% | 35% |
| Base (n) | 1,087 | 1,012 | 1,051 | 1,063 | 1,050 | 1,035 | 1,043 |
| Federal Voting intention | ||||||
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very important | 24% | 33% | 15% | 29% | 26% | |
| Quite important | 37% | 40% | 35% | 41% | 35% | |
| Not very important | 17% | 11% | 26% | 13% | 16% | |
| Not at all important | 7% | 3% | 12% | 4% | 6% | |
| Don’t know | 16% | 13% | 13% | 13% | 17% | |
| TOTAL: Important | 60% | 73% | 50% | 70% | 61% | |
| TOTAL: Not important | 24% | 15% | 37% | 17% | 22% | |
| Base (n) | 1,087 | 334 | 412 | 96 | 140 | |
Australian working people, importance of unions
Q. How important are unions for Australian working people today?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
Work full time |
Work part time |
|
19 Mar 12 |
10 Sep 12 |
20 May 13 |
10 Dec 13 |
|
| Total important |
61% |
79% |
44% |
87% |
60% |
60% |
72% |
56% |
52% |
56% |
57% |
||
| Total not Important |
30% |
17% |
50% |
8% |
27% |
34% |
21% |
35% |
38% |
36% |
34% |
||
| Very important |
27% |
42% |
11% |
48% |
25% |
26% |
31% |
19% |
16% |
21% |
22% |
||
| Quite important |
34% |
37% |
33% |
39% |
35% |
34% |
41% |
37% |
36% |
35% |
35% |
||
| Not very important |
21% |
14% |
33% |
8% |
18% |
24% |
14% |
27% |
28% |
24% |
22% |
||
| Not at all important |
9% |
3% |
17% |
– |
9% |
10% |
7% |
8% |
10% |
12% |
12% |
||
| Don’t know |
8% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
13% |
5% |
7% |
9% |
10% |
8% |
9% |
The majority of respondents regarded unions to be important for Australian working people today (61%), whilst 30% believe that they were not important. These results represent an increase in importance of unions since this question was asked in December – from net +23 to +31.
79% of Labor voters and 87% of Greens voters believed that unions were important for Australian working people today, while Coalition voters were the most likely to regard unions as not important (50%).
The majority of full time workers (60% – up 5%) and part time workers (72% – up 7%) regarded unions as important for Australian working people today.
10 December 2013, 101213, importance of unions
Q. How important are unions for Australian working people today?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
19 Mar 12 |
10 Sep 12 |
20 May 13 |
|
| Total important |
57% |
78% |
37% |
82% |
51% |
56% |
52% |
56% |
||
| Total not Important |
34% |
14% |
56% |
11% |
38% |
35% |
38% |
36% |
||
| Very important |
22% |
38% |
6% |
43% |
20% |
19% |
16% |
21% |
||
| Quite important |
35% |
40% |
31% |
39% |
31% |
37% |
36% |
35% |
||
| Not very important |
22% |
12% |
33% |
9% |
25% |
27% |
28% |
24% |
||
| Not at all important |
12% |
2% |
23% |
2% |
13% |
8% |
10% |
12% |
||
| Don’t know |
9% |
8% |
7% |
8% |
11% |
9% |
10% |
8% |
The majority of respondents regarded unions to be important for Australian working people today (57%), whilst 34% believe that they were not important. These results have changed little since this question was asked in May.
78% of Labor voters and 82% of Greens voters believed that unions were important for Australian working people today, while Coalition voters were the most likely to regard unions as not important (56%).
The majority of full time workers (55%) and part time workers (65%) regarded unions as important for Australian working people today.
20 May 2013, 200513, importance of unions, Trade Unions, unions
Q. And how important are unions for Australian working people today?
|
19 Mar 2012 |
10 Sept 12 |
Total 20 May 13 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Work full time |
Work part time |
|
| Total important |
56% |
52% |
56% |
80% |
38% |
70% |
54% |
57% |
| Total not Important |
35% |
38% |
36% |
12% |
59% |
23% |
39% |
36% |
| Very important |
19% |
16% |
21% |
35% |
8% |
38% |
18% |
26% |
| Quite important |
37% |
36% |
35% |
45% |
30% |
32% |
36% |
31% |
| Not very important |
27% |
28% |
24% |
11% |
36% |
18% |
25% |
27% |
| Not at all important |
8% |
10% |
12% |
1% |
23% |
5% |
14% |
9% |
| Don’t know |
9% |
10% |
8% |
7% |
3% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
The majority of respondents regarded unions to be important for Australian working people today (56%), whilst 36% believe that they were not important. Belief that they are important increased 4 points from 52% in September 2012 to 56% in this week’s results.
80% of Labor voters and 70% of Greens voters believed that unions were important for Australian working people today, while Coalition voters were the most likely to regard unions as not important (59%).
The majority of full time workers (54%) and part time workers (57%) regarded unions as important for Australian working people today.
10 September 2012, 100912, importance of unions
Q. And how important are unions for Australian working people today?
|
19 Mar 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 12 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Work full time |
Work part time |
|
| Total Important |
56% |
52% |
72% |
34% |
82% |
52% |
56% |
| Total Not Important |
35% |
38% |
21% |
58% |
11% |
42% |
33% |
| Very important |
19% |
16% |
28% |
6% |
37% |
19% |
15% |
| Quite important |
37% |
36% |
44% |
28% |
45% |
33% |
41% |
| Not very important |
27% |
28% |
19% |
40% |
9% |
31% |
25% |
| Not at all important |
8% |
10% |
2% |
18% |
2% |
11% |
8% |
| Don’t know |
9% |
10% |
6% |
8% |
7% |
6% |
10% |
The majority of respondents regarded unions to be important for Australian working people today (52%), whilst 38% believe that they were not important. Belief that they are important fell 4 points from 56% in March 2012 to 52% in this week’s results.
Greens voters were by far the most likely to believe that unions were important for Australian working people today (82%), whilst Coalition voters were the most likely to regard unions as not important (58%).
Both the majority of full time workers (52%) and part time workers (56%) regarded unions as important for Australian working people today. However full time workers (42%) were more likely than part time workers (33%) to regard unions as not important.