IR surrender?

There is no better time to be making a fuss about an issue than in the middle of an election campaign, but anyone would think the business community was fine and dandy with our IR system.

The AFR today has done a survey with what they call 20 of the nation’s most influential business and trade groups and found that none are pushing for an overhaul of industrial relations.

The groups were asked to identify their top three priorities for the next government and the lack of interest in workplace deregulation and IR issues suggests that business isn’t concerned about Tony Abbott’s promise not to change Labor’s Fair Work Act during the first term of government.

However, a poll by SmartCompany taken this week suggests IR is a huge issue for SMEs. In fact 81% say the parties should be prepared to make changes to IR laws. Their main complaint about IR is that the laws are too complicated, not flexible enough, allow too much union involvement and provide no incentives to employ more staff. Some SMEs were also angry about penalty rates for weekends and public holidays, saying they may have to close on those days as they cannot afford to operate.

The response to the survey suggests that the SME sector sees IR reform as a major issue and part of a larger debate that should encompass labour flexibility, the ageing workforce and of course the skills shortage, which is of enormous concern.

So it is puzzling that the business groups do not have this as a major issue on their agendas. The other puzzle is finance for SMEs. That barely got a mention. Even CPA Australia, which recently held a roundtable that highlighted the growing problem of the cost and lack of availability of bank funding, did not name this in their top three issues.

Of course a number of the business groups are not representing SMEs. But most are. And so it is worth asking in this election if the business groups are playing the political game a little too hard – and at the expense of the SMEs.