{"title":"Women, work and industrial relations in Australia in 2021","authors":"Talara Lee, L. Good, B. Lipton, R. Cooper","doi":"10.1177/00221856221099624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221099624","url":null,"abstract":"The year 2021 has been momentous for women at work in Australia. Two key themes loom large: first, the highly gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paid and unpaid work, and second, the ongoing crisis of persistent gender-based disrespect and violence in Australian workplaces. Both have prompted escalating demands for change to provide women with better jobs, improve the balance between work and care, and ensure more respect at work. This article examines these issues, briefly analyses the 2021–22 Federal Budget and parental leave policy in Australia a decade after a national scheme commenced, and foreshadows several issues on women and work to watch in 2022.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44894116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. McGrath-Champ, Mihajla Gavin, M. Stacey, Rachel Wilson
{"title":"Collaborating for policy impact: Academic-practitioner collaboration in industrial relations research","authors":"S. McGrath-Champ, Mihajla Gavin, M. Stacey, Rachel Wilson","doi":"10.1177/00221856221094887","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221094887","url":null,"abstract":"Knowledge co-production between academics and practitioners is increasingly a focus for university workplace contexts. While there is emerging interest in how social science academics can engage with industry to generate impact, little attention has been paid to how one form of practitioner organisation, trade unions, engages with academics to influence policy and member outcomes. In this article, we examine a case of research collaboration with an education trade union based in New South Wales, Australia, to explore the process of knowledge co-production with this partnership and its impact on education policy. In examining this decade-long partnership, we contribute to the literature on union strategy by depicting collaboration with researchers as a unique strategy for influencing policy outcomes (in this case, addressing teacher workload), while also contributing to emerging scholarship on knowledge co-production as a means to generate impact beyond the academy. As such, this article contributes a rare example of ‘cross-over’ between the worlds of academia and industry, which may inform future engagement and impact processes.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46928855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Casual truths: What do the data on casual employment really mean?","authors":"D. Peetz, R. May","doi":"10.1177/00221856221097474","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221097474","url":null,"abstract":"We draw on mostly unpublished ABS data to address three related questions: (1) How can we approximate the number of genuinely flexible casual employees? (2) What are the characteristics of work where employees are, or are not, likely to be genuinely flexible casuals? and (3) How many employees are compensated for the disutility of casual employment? Only 6 per cent of leave-deprived workers (1.4% of all employees) are ‘narrowly-defined casuals’. The majority of leave-deprived workers have been with their employer for over a year. The majority expect to be with the same employer over a year into the future. Around half have stable hours from one week to the next and are not on standby. The characteristics of leave-deprived employees do not appear to be those of flexible, casual employment relationships. The common feature appears to be low power. Employers may have the ability to deploy them in all sorts of flexible ways, but often do not need to utilise that flexibility. The popular term ‘permanent casual’ is more accurately phrased as ‘permanently insecure’. The high rate of ‘casual’ employment enables Australia to have an internationally low level of leave coverage.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44055691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Employer and employer association matters in 2021","authors":"Michael Barry, Ryan Gould","doi":"10.1177/00221856221099625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221099625","url":null,"abstract":"For employers and their associations, 2021 began with the prospect of significant industrial relation change and a return to business as usual. However, the enduring implications of the pandemic, and defeat of many employer-supported aspects of the Coalition Government's legislative changes in the Senate, quickly dashed these dreams. Through a review of public submissions, media reports and interviews, this article explores the key activities and interests of employers and their associations throughout 2021. This year saw welcomed clarity regarding casual employment, renewed government interest in (if not support for) skilled migration, and through the enhanced use of online communication platforms, the opportunity for better member–association relationships. As the year progressed, employer attention shifted back to the pandemic, and more specifically, the challenge of managing vaccine mandates. For employers and their associations, 2021 was then a year of mixed results and enduring uncertainty.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41969179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Australian labour market in 2021","authors":"E. Birch, A. Preston","doi":"10.1177/00221856221100387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221100387","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides a review of the Australian labour market in 2021. It describes patterns of employment, unemployment and other key labour market outcomes in the year, including wages. In the year to September 2021, total employment increased by 2.6% for males and 2.2% for females, driven by a growth in full-time employment. While most labour market indicators returned to their pre-pandemic levels in 2021, young adults, particular men, casual employees and the self-employed were most disadvantaged by COVID-19. New South Wales and Victorian residents were similarly adversely affected. Notwithstanding inflationary fears, in the year to September 2021, headline inflation increased by 3.0% and the wage price index by 2.2%, rendering a fall in real wages during the year. Despite record low unemployment at year's end and a positive economic outlook for 2022, the future remains unclear.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43434349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unions and collective bargaining in Australia in 2021","authors":"Mihajla Gavin","doi":"10.1177/00221856221100381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221100381","url":null,"abstract":"This article reviews the year across collective bargaining, union policy and strategy, as well as industrial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the industrial environment rebounded slightly from the initial impact of the pandemic in 2020, similar themes persisted throughout 2021, including declining coverage of employees under collective agreements, a difficult bargaining environment in ‘essential’ industries, limited cooperation of the industrial relations parties during developments in the pandemic response and a continued pattern of low wages growth. While trade unions achieved isolated ‘wins’ on key matters, at a system level there continues to be enduring issues of low wages, insecure work and frustrations with the collective bargaining system, while the nation attempts to recover from the impact of the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44577362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unbundling workplace conflict: Exploring the relationship between grievances and non-strike industrial actions and the moderating effect of voice mechanisms","authors":"Sung-Chul Noh, Robert Hebdon","doi":"10.1177/00221856221099788","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221099788","url":null,"abstract":"Given that an understanding of the inter-relationships among workplace conflict expressions is necessary for effective dispute resolution, this study explores the moderating roles of various types of voice mechanisms in the relationship between grievances and non-strike industrial actions. Using data from the Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey, we found evidence that a positive relationship between grievances and non-strike industrial action (e.g. slowdowns, work-to-rule, etc.) is stronger in workplaces with weaker union voice, is weaker in non-union workplaces with more extensive high-involvement work systems, and was not affected by the presence of alternative dispute resolution systems. Our findings provide theoretical insights into the role of voice mechanism in the inter-relationships between individual and collective forms of conflict in both union and non-union environments. The results also have practical implications for dispute resolution in terms of the management of conflict and dispute systems design.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43730449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How do trade unions manage themselves? A study of Australian unions’ administrative practices","authors":"Greg J. Bamber, M. Jerrard, Paul F. Clark","doi":"10.1177/00221856221083715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221083715","url":null,"abstract":"Dedication We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable contributions to the research that we discuss here by our dear friend and colleague the late Dr Sandra Cockfield; we miss her greatly. We dedicate this article to her. For a tribute to her see www.monash.edu/vale/home/articles/vale-dr-sandra-cockfield. The article discusses issues rarely addressed in research on Australian unions: the internal management policies and practices of unions, including human resource management, budgeting and strategy formulation. Management matters because it creates processes and systems that focus activity on whatever objectives a union or other organisation wishes to achieve. Our main research question is ‘how do Australian unions manage their employees, budgets, and strategies?’ Our study builds on earlier studies of US, UK and Canadian unions by adapting a survey instrument used in these countries. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) asked national and branch unions to complete our online surveys. Of the unions surveyed, a majority of respondents use systematic human resource management policies and practices. They have also adopted strategic planning and budgeting practices. Echoing international findings, Australian unions have increasingly professionalised their administration. These findings are important since they have implications for how Australian unions deal with the challenges they face, including their revitalisation efforts and their responses to changing regulatory contexts.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47698623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: International & Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses by Greg J. Bamber, Fang Lee Cooke, Virginia Doellgast, and Chris F. Wright","authors":"A. Pendleton","doi":"10.1177/00221856221096961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221096961","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46283915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"COVID-normal workplaces: Should working from home be a ‘collective flexibility’?","authors":"Sue Williamson, A. Pearce","doi":"10.1177/00221856221094894","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856221094894","url":null,"abstract":"Working from home expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Controversy examines how working from home was framed and regulated pre-pandemic. We contrast this with the changes made to Australia's industrial award system during the pandemic to increase flexibilities around working from home, in response to a collective need for a responsive safety net. We argue that the conception and regulation of working from home is shifting from an individual flexibility, to a ‘collective flexibility’ available to a wide array of workers, collectively negotiated and governed by increased regulation. While industrial instruments were varied to accommodate public health requirements and the need of organisations and employees to work from home, these shifts were temporary. We argue that working from home provisions should rightly be regulated as a collective entitlement. We therefore consider possible ways forward in regulating this form of working, drawing from international developments. We raise these issues to extend debates around how working from home can be regulated to benefit employers and employees as we move towards COVID-normal.","PeriodicalId":47100,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45774606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}