It found 70% of management in the public sector felt industrial relations had reached ‘adversarial' level, with 38% now anticipating strikes.
The news follows a prediction last week by Unite, Britain's largest trade union, that the Government faces a summer of industrial unrest if planned public-sector cuts to be revealed at next week's Budget are to be believed.
Speaking at a rally for striking British Airways cabin crew, Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said: " This coming summer, when the Government attacks public-sector workers, streets will not be cleaned, bins will not be emptied."
Nita Clarke, IPA director and co-chair of the MacLeod Review of Employee Engagement, said: "It is more important than ever for the Government to support ways to better engage people if we are to avoid a grim future for workplace relations."
According to the IPA more than 90% of respondents from both the private and public sectors said they were concerned about cuts in public spending, with public-sector respondents being particularly worried about reductions in frontline services.
