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15 May 2012, 150512, 3q, 3Q Ep12, actu, ACTU Congress, Ep12, Ged Kearney, Union, unions
Why would anyone join a union?
Ged Kearney says the union movement needs to emphasise its achievements rather than letting others focus on the negatives.
As the ACTU Congress meets this week, the HSU East and Craig Thomson affairs continue to dominate the political landscape.
But ACTU President Ged Kearney says Congress will be focusing on the future and the policies which make the work place — and society – fairer.
She tells 3Q that even though union membership has dropped, thousands of people join unions every year. With an increasingly casualised workforce, Kearney says unions are needed more than ever.
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19 March 2012, 190312, Polling, polls, Union, union movement, unions, workers, working people
Opinion of Unions
Q. Overall, do you think unions have been good or bad for Australian working people?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Work full time
Work part time
Total good 48%
72%
31%
70%
48%
48%
Total bad 17%
6%
31%
3%
18%
18%
Very good 12%
26%
4%
21%
13%
10%
Good 36%
46%
27%
49%
35%
38%
Neither good nor bad 28%
19%
34%
16%
28%
29%
Bad 11%
4%
19%
3%
12%
10%
Very bad 6%
2%
12%
–
6%
8%
Don’t know 6%
3%
4%
10%
6%
5%
48% think that unions have been good for Australian working people, 17% think they have been bad, and 28% think they have been neither good nor bad.
72% of Labor voters and 70% of Greens voters think they have been good and Liberal/National voters are split 31% good/31% bad.
There was no difference between the views of workers and non-workers and very little difference be age, gender or income.
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19 March 2012, 190312, Polling, polls, Union, union movement, unions, workers, working people
Importance of Unions
Q. And how important are unions for Australian working people today?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Work full time
Work part time
Total very/quite important 56%
80%
39%
71%
55%
57%
Very important 19%
34%
8%
31%
18%
16%
Quite important 37%
46%
31%
40%
37%
41%
Not very important 27%
12%
39%
21%
30%
31%
Not at all important 8%
2%
16%
–
8%
8%
Don’t know 9%
6%
6%
7%
7%
5%
56% think that unions are very or quite important for Australian working people today.
80% of Labor voters and 71% of Greens voters think they are important compared to only 39% of Liberal/National voters.
There was little difference by age and gender groups – but those on lower incomes were a little more likely to think unions are important (63% of those earning less than $1,000pw).
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employers, Industrial Relations, IR, unions, workers
Industrial Relations Laws
Q. Business groups have said that Australia’s industrial relations laws favour workers and unions and should be changed so that businesses can increase productivity and have more flexibility with their workforce. Do you think Australia’s industrial relations laws favour employers or workers or do they balance the interests of workers and employers?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Full time workers Part time workers Favour employers 25% 29% 23% 36% 27% 25% Favour workers 24% 15% 39% 12% 26% 20% Balance the interests of employers and workers 34% 43% 25% 37% 34% 38% Don’t know 17% 13% 13% 16% 13% 17% Respondents were evenly divided over whether Australia’s industrial relations laws favour employers or workers – 25% think they favour employers, 24% favour workers and 34% think they balance the interests of both.
Labor voters are more likely to think they balance workers and employers interests (43%) while Liberal/National voters are more likely to thin they favour workers (39%). Only 15% of Labor voters and 12% of Greens voters think the laws favour workers. Comments »
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member groups, Membership, organisational membership, Polling, polls, Religion, sports club, trade union, unions
Membership of Organisations
Q. Which of the following types of organisations have you ever been a member of?
Q. Which of the following types of organisations are you currently a member of?
Q. And which of the following types of organisations have you joined in the last 12 months?
Ever been a member Currently a member Joined in last 12 months Trade union 34% 9% 2% Professional organization 28% 13% 3% Environment group 9% 4% 2% Religion/church 31% 13% 2% Book club 14% 4% 1% Service organisation like Rotary, Lions, Apex, etc 9% 4% 1% School organisation e.g. parents club, school council 22% 4% 2% Sports club 38% 17% 6% Political party 6% 1% * Local community group 21% 11% 3% Special interest or hobby group e.g. gardening, birdwatching, chess, etc 20% 10% 3% Other organisation 9% 6% 1% Total members 81% 56% 20% 56% say they are currently members of an organisation and 20% say they have joined an organisation in the last 12 months. The most popular types of organisations are sports clubs (17% members) religions/churches (13%) and professional organisations (13%). Membership of organisations is slightly lower for those aged under 35 (53%) and a little higher for those aged 55+ (58%). 59% of men and 53% of women say they are members of an organisation.
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Alan Joyce, Essential Report, fair work australia, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Polling, Qantas, Qantas Dispute, tony abbott, unions
Approval of Parties to Qantas Dispute
Q. Did you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following in the Qantas dispute?
Regular air travellers Total approve Total disapprove Strongly approve Approve Disapprove Strongly disapprove Don’t know Total approve Total disapprove Julia Gillard and the Labor Government 30% 49% 6% 24% 22% 27% 20% 30% 56% Tony Abbott and the opposition 27% 45% 5% 22% 21% 24% 28% 36% 45% Qantas management 27% 57% 6% 21% 28% 29% 16% 37% 56% Qantas workers 33% 49% 7% 26% 36% 13% 18% 35% 55% The Qantas CEO Alan Joyce 28% 58% 8% 20% 22% 36% 14% 37% 55% Union leaders 24% 56% 4% 20% 27% 29% 19% 26% 63% Fair Work Australia 55% 21% 13% 42% 15% 6% 23% 62% 25% Overall, respondents disapproved of the performance of all parties to the dispute except for Fair Work Australia, which was approved by 55%.
More than half the respondents disapproved of the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (58%), Qantas management (57%) and union leaders (56%).
Regular air travellers were more likely to approve of Qantas management and CEO. However, more than half disapproved of all parties except for Tony Abbott and the opposition (45% disapprove) and Fair Work Australia (25%).
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ABC, charitable organisations, Essential Report, Federal Government, high court, Polling, Religion, Reserve Bank, trust in group, unions
Trust in various Australian institutions
Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions?
Total Trust Total No Trust A lot of trust Some trust A little trust No trust Don’t know The High Court 72% 19% 33% 39% 13% 6% 10% The Reserve Bank 67% 24% 23% 44% 17% 7% 10% Courts in general 65% 26% 19% 46% 18% 8% 9% Charitable organisations 61% 30% 18% 43% 22% 8% 9% Federal Parliament 55% 36% 15% 40% 21% 15% 10% The ABC 46% 44% 12% 34% 31% 13% 10% Environment groups 45% 46% 11% 34% 28% 18% 9% Trade unions 39% 52% 10% 29% 30% 22% 10% Business groups 38% 51% 6% 32% 34% 17% 10% Religious organisations 29% 62% 9% 20% 27% 35% 9% Please note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’ together. ‘Total No Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by combining ‘A little trust’ and ‘No trust’. The institution in which respondents place the most trust is the High Court with 72% of respondents stating that they either have ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’ in the High Court. The High Court is followed by the Reserve Bank (67%), Courts in general (65%) and Charitable organisations (61%).
Federal parliament features below these top four, ranking 5th with 55% of respondents having either ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’, followed by the ABC which ranked in sixth place (46% total trust).
The institutions for which respondents had the most distrust were trade unions (52% no trust), business groups (51% no trust) and Religious organisations, which attracted the highest proportion of distrust (62% no trust).
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campaign, Janet Giles, SA uions, unions, www.saworkingpeople.com.au
New Campaign: South Australian Working People
South Australian unions are campaigning to pressure the State Government into reversing its Budget decisions which will cut more 3,700 jobs and have attacked the negotiated working conditions of South Australian public sector workers.
The unions’ believe that South Australia needs a real Labor Government that will put the interests of working people first, not one which legislates away the entitlements of its workforce.
The unions believe they have an important role to play in the community and in the wider political debate by advocating on behalf of workers when governments make decisions.
EMC was engaged late last year to run the campaign for SA Unions, using digital, advertising and a free media strategy
EMC has developed two television ads, the first of which began screening in early March. This sets the scene for the campaign, with SA Unions State Secretary Janet Giles talking to camera, outlining exactly what the government has done and saying, “It’s time the government put working people first.”