Australian employees’ attitudes towards Unions

Abstract

- Between 1996 and 2002, Australian employees’ attitudes towards unions have become more positive - In 2002, only 17 per cent of employees thought that Australia would be better off without unions compared to 25 per cent in 1996 - There has been a significant decline in the proportion of employees who think that unions in Australia do not look after their members (29 per cent in 2002 down from 43 per cent in 1996) - The perception that management has more power than unions has remained the same - The percentage of employees who would rather be in a union has remained around the 50 per cent mark - Some of the attitudes towards unions of male employees, older workers aged 45 plus, younger employees aged 18 to 24 and those in larger organisations have improved relative to other employees - 78 per cent of employees believe that executive pay rises should be linked to workers’ pay rises - 58 per cent of employees think that organisations in Australia conduct their business in an ethical and proper way - About 40 per cent of employees who join unions do so for a ‘safety net’ - Non membership of a union appears to be related to inertia or indifference rather than to ideological opposition to unions