The Labour Relations Act and changes to the structure of bargaining

This article discusses the impact of inflationary expectations and outcomes on the 1987-88 wage round, the first under the Labour Relations Act 1987. It argues that any trade-off between moderate wage settlements and the retention of the Mtional award system for at least another year has worked to the advantage of unions because of the sharp fall in inflation since September 1987. Since real wages have in general at least been mainlained under negotiations which basically took place within the national award system, the pressures for major structural changes to the bargaining system are correspondingly less than if real wages had, as expected, declined.