Industrial relations requires an informed debate WHEN it comes to industrial relations, loud opinions and profound ignorance go hand in hand. People petition general industrial relations reform without specifying details; eminent business leaders demand legislative provisions that already exist; wealthy individuals thumb their nose at employment obligations; and industrial relations journalists misinform the public on basic facts relating to important matters of public interest. This week our government, in an attempt to solve another issue, laid down an edict contrary to workplace law and no one, not even the opposition, which wrote the legislation, noticed it.