The Forced Cessation of Logging and the Management of Impacts On Workers

Abstract

A recent environmental dispute in Australia resulted in the forced cessation of logging on an island off the Queensland coast. In conjunction with the cessation of logging, the Queensland government announced a Worker's Special Adjustment Package (WSAP) for those individuals who were displaced from employment as a result of the cessation of logging. A Social Impact Assessment was commissioned by the Queensland Government and that evaluation is the subject of this article. The question addressed is: How do structural adjustment packages mitigate negative outcomes that can result from worker redundancy? We are concerned with delineating those factors that are likely to predict the success or failure of a structural adjustment package designed to mitigate the impact of redundancy. This is an important issue, not least because of the role of these packages in the management of structural change and in ensuring positive outcomes for those directly affected by redundancy.