The Galaxy poll of 1009 respondents nationally shows the public strongly rejects big business proposals to delay restoring workers' protection from unfair dismissal and collective bargaining rights until at least 2010.

The poll finds almost three-quarters of voters (73%) believe there should be no delay in improving workers' protection from unfair dismissal and nearly seven in ten voters (69%) oppose a delay in restoring workers' rights to bargain collectively.

The poll shows overwhelming support for the immediate scrapping of Work Choices and the implementation of Labor’s IR policy among people who voted in the Rudd Government last year. Almost nine in ten (89%) ALP voters oppose a delay in laws to improve protection from unfair dismissal and 85% of ALP voters oppose a delay in restoring workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

Unions acknowledge the Rudd Government has started dismantling Work Choices, including by banning new Australian Workplace Agreements.

But ACTU President Sharan Burrow says it is worrying that key elements of WorkChoices remain in place so long after last year’s election. She says business and employer groups are taking advantage of the confusion over the timing of the introduction of new IR laws.

Major retailer Harvey Norman has this week been exposed defying a ban on new AWAs, offering a new employee a contract that cuts the worker’s take home pay by up to $146 a week, depending on commissions.

“This poll contains an important message from the Australian public to the business community: there can be no delay in getting rid of WorkChoices & restoring a fair go in the workplace,” Ms Burrow says.

 “This is what most Australians voted for last year, and they clearly expect action as soon as possible. Business needs to listen to these voters and stop lobbying the Government to delay or undermine what was promised last year.”

The on-line poll conducted this month also found that:

• 77 per cent (82 per cent of ALP voters) agree that an independent umpire should be able to step in and finalise an agreement in situations where differences cannot be resolved —  a role that business lobby group Ai Group has also opposed.
• There is strong support for Labor’s policy of allowing issues currently deemed to be ‘prohibited content’ to be included in workplace agreements, despite business opposition to these changes to Work Choices. The poll shows 77% of respondents saying the new IR laws should allow employers and employees to agree to include measures to tackle climate change, and 62% saying they should allow provisions restricting use of contractors and labour hire that undercut employees’ wages and conditions.
• 64 per cent (68 per cent of ALP voters) disagree with the policy of making workers in small businesses wait 12 months before they have protection from unfair dismissal.