Premium
The Metamorphosis of Australian Industrial Relations
Author(s) -
Hancock Keith,
Rawson Don
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1993.tb00410.x
Subject(s) - industrial relations , conciliation , arbitration , collective bargaining , dominance (genetics) , ideology , consolidation (business) , commission , economics , political economy , compulsory arbitration , trade union , market economy , labor relations , law and economics , economic system , political science , labour economics , politics , law , management , biochemistry , chemistry , accounting , gene
This article outlines the current processes of change in Australian industrial relations ‐ processes whose ultimate direction and effects are unforeseeable. The traditional dominance of conciliation and arbitration tribunals is giving way to more devolved arrangements. Some protagonists of change envisage a move towards collective bargaining, with trade unions having a pervasive and secure role; others believe the place of unions is in question. The impulse for change comes partly from market‐oriented ideology, but this is not extensively discussed, A second source is the desire of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Labor Government to determine wage policy jointly, with the role of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission being essentially that of implementation. Also important is a widely held view that reform of industrial relations is a path to better productivity performance. The paper discusses the justification for that view. Various questions remain to be answered. These include the possibility for enduring wages policy; the legal framework necessary for bargaining; the nature of the industrial relations system of non‐union enterprises; and the congruence of enterprise bargaining with the structure of trade unionism.