Kiwis are increasingly concerned about their incomes and rights under the new National-led Government, The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions' (NZCTU) annual Mood of the Workforce survey shows.
Two-thirds of the 1990 people who responded to the survey, conducted between January 3 and 10, feel the Government's policies are going to make it harder to deal with the cost of living.
The survey was emailed to a random selection of 50,000 people from the NZCTU's Together email list. Email addresses were collected "over the last seven years via petitions, parliamentary submission calls, community events and fundraising for community causes", the NZCTU said.
Author for the NZCTU, Rob Egan, told Newshub about two thirds of those on the email list were union members.
Egan said he was surprised at how little difference there was in the results when they were adjusted to only include certain cohorts.
However, the survey also points out "union members have done better at securing their terms and conditions, including being more likely to report a pay rise in the past year by 20 percent".
NZCTU president Richard Wagstaff said the general results demonstrate employees feel insecure at work.
"The feedback from this year's survey is that many people are worried about the future of their jobs and well-being of their families."
He argued that the repeal of employment legislation without consultation shows the Government "does not care about their interests or the interests of most New Zealanders".
While 72.8 percent of survey respondents received a pay rise in the past year or less, 78.1 percent thought the new Government's policies would make it harder to get a fair bump in the coming year.
About 80 percent of respondents thought the performance of the new Government was bad or very bad, and 53 percent felt the new Government's policies would weaken their job security.
The survey also asked how respondents felt their work life balance, hours worked and work quality had changed over the past year.
Asked about the survey, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the coalition Government is "committed to delivering for working New Zealanders and helping hard-working people to get ahead".
She argued the survey's results were unreliable.
"The 4 per cent response rate suggests the general election, in which people voted for change, was a much better guide to public opinion," she said.
