Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Research Articles

Enterprise Bargaining: The Truth — A Comment

In a recent paper in this Review, Rimmer and Watts (1994) are critical of our attempt to relate trade union activity to the only data on workplace productivity generated by the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey [AWIRS], Crockett, Dawkins and Mulvey (1993). Their criticism is based on the fact that the data on productivity were gathered by asking managers to rank the productivity of their workplace relative to other workplaces in the industry on a five point scale ranging from ‘a lot higher’ through ‘average’ to ‘a lot lower’.

The Conditions Associated with Peripheral Employment in Australia

Aims to subject to empirical scrutiny the claim that peripheral work is characterized by a range of undesirable characteristics. The analysis of data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) clearly shows that there is a link between peripheral forms of employment and undesirable working conditions in Australian workplaces. Further, the negative features of peripheral employment apply regardless of workplace size, sector or industry. In conjunction with the evidence of the growth of a peripheral workforce and the marked over‐representation of women in such jobs, supports the argument that peripheral work contributes to inequality in Australian workplaces.

Post-Fordist Theory, Labour Process and Flexibility and Autonomy in Australian Workplaces

Abstract This article contributes to the ongoing debates about labour flexibility by subjecting some central theoretical claims to empirical scrutiny. Specifically, competing propositions drawn from the theoretical schools referred to as post-Fordism and neo-Fordism form the basis for the central research problem addressed in the paper. These propositions concern the alleged links between ‘labour process flexibility’ and autonomy. Post-Fordist theory holds that various manifestations of this sort of flexibility are associated with a fundamental transformation of work and the empowerment of employees. In contrast, neo-Fordist theorists argue that no such transformation is likely, and that in fact such flexibility may be associated with a degradation of work. These competing positions are assessed using two sets of data. Firstly, data drawn from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) are used to generate quantitative indicators of flexibility and autonomy and the relationships between ...

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

Workplace Industrial Relations under Different Regulatory Systems: A Survey‐Based Comparison of Australia and Britain

ABSTRACTThe focus of the paper is upon the extent to which different national regulatory systems give rise to different institutions and outcomes at the workplace. It uses data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and the third British Workplace Industrial Relations Survey to examine a number of hypotheses which suggest that the different regulatory systems of these countries have produced distinct patterns of industrial relations at the workplace. It is concluded that, while there is substantial evidence that the countries' different regulatory systems have had distinct effect on industrial relations institutions and outcomes, these are not as straight forward as earlier work has suggested.

Workplace Industrial Relations and Deregulation

Australia offers an example of a formerly centralized system of industrial relations which is in the process of significant change towards a more decentralized and deregulated system. However, many of the criticisms of the previous system, which focused on its inflexibility and rigidity, were based largely on anecdotal evidence. The results of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey revealed that many of these criticisms did not appear to be supported. Presents further evidence, based on a series of detailed case studies, that there was a good deal of flexibility at the workplace level under the so‐called centralized system. It argues that many of the criticisms of the arbitration systems and of union resistance to change, especially by employer organizations, have been misplaced. Indeed, where management pursued a clear strategy to achieve greater efficiency, and actively involved both employees and unions in the process, their initiatives were generally well received and successful.

Variations in Union Presence and Density in Australia: Evidence from AWIRS, 1989

There has been much recent work, using the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey data set, on the impact of unions on various economic variables. In contrast, this paper has union presence and density as the dependent variables, since not only are these of interest in their own right, but they also have the advantage of pointing to the potential bias of regression estimates that treat union impact variables as exogenous of the control variables typically used to predict union presence. Since establishment-level data is used, the factors that influence union activity from the employers' perspective are included. Thus, particular attention is paid to the impact of human resources management policies on union presence and density. The latter were found to be important, together with plant and firm size, workforce characteristics, and product market variables. The inclusion of the inverse Mills ratio in the density equation, to control for sample selectivity bias, was found to be necessary.

The Australian Government's Affirmative Action Legislation: Achieving Social Change Through Human Resource Management*

Data from the Affirmative Action Agency Public Reports and the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey were used to review progress in the implementation of the Australian Government's Affirmative Action legislation and to examine the relationship between following mandatory procedures and achieving outcomes that impact positively on women's workforce experiences. The data suggest that while a relationship exists at the bivariate level, it becomes considerably weaker when organizational and workforce characteristics are controlled. The variables that emerged from the analyses as strong predictors of both procedural compliance and the adoption of accommodating practices for women centered around human resource management. Where companies were committed to human resource management, both procedural compliance and accommodating practices tended to be high. These data demonstrate the importance of linking legislation for social change with workplace functions, particularly when resistance to the legislation is high and capacity to enforce is low.

Unionization in Australia: Evidence from the AWIRS*

This article uses workplace level data from the recent Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey to test a simple demand and supply model explaining the level of union membership within Australia The findings suggest that previous research using individual‐level data has understated the importance of the supply‐side in influencing union membership. In particular, unionization levels were found to be highly sensitive to firm size, to the number of unions represented in the workplace and to management attitudes

The australian workplace industrial relations survey and comparative industrial relations: Canadian reflections

This paper provides an overview of the recently publishedAustralian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS). It argues that the socio-economic and political agenda in Australia regarding labor market de-regulation and industrial relations reform, the context of the AWIRS, provides an opportunity to construct fruitful industrial relations comparative analysis between Canada and Australia. This is seen as a broadening of the traditional if not habitual comparisons between Canada and the U.S. Finally, the author calls for a similar nationally constructed workplace survey to be conducted in Canada.

Surveying the Practice of Joint Consultation in Australia

In the last few years, a number of articles have pointed to the groiving relevance of joint consultation within Australian workplaces, a view which is stipported by the data from the 1990 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. The purpose of this paper is to extend the brief analysis contained in Industrial Relations at Work, and analyze the role played by joint consultative committees across employing organizations as a whole. In particular, evidence is examined relating to the growth/ decline of consultation, its links with other mechanisms for developing employee involvement, the rationale for its implementation at work, the shape and character of joint consultative committees, as well as the participants' attitudes towards these schemes. There appears to have been an increase in consultation recently, and—contrary to some observers—the committees themselves seem to be well received by those who are involved in them. The analysis also suggests that at least two rather different models of consultation appear to be operating in Australia, largely dependent upon the degree and strength of unionization at the workplace. It is argued that the links between consultation and collective bargaining should be more closely examined if there is a further move towards devolved negotiations in Australia.

A Preliminary Investigation into Myths and the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

A Preliminary Investigation into Myths and the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

The Growth of Employee Involvement in Australia

In recent years, a number of case studies have reported a growth in the extent of direct employee involvement in specific workplaces in Australia. On the basis of secondary analysis of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey data, the author demonstrates that this is in fact a more general phenomenon, even at workplaces where unions have traditionally been well organized. At the same time, the overall pattern of growth has been tempered by a smaller but not insignificant number of deaths as schemes have been discontinued. Suggestion schemes and quality circles have been the techniques most likely to show a high rate of attrition as well as growth, thus demonstrating a high degree of instability. It is suggested that the changing nature of employee involvement, as well as its fluidity, has potential implications for managements and trade unions.

Book Reviews

Industrial Relations JournalVolume 23, Issue 2 p. 155-173 Book Reviews First published: June 1992 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2338.1992.tb00566.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract The Contentious Alliance: Trade Unions and the Labour Party Lewis Minkin Trade Unions in British Politics–the first 200 years Ben Pimlott and Chris Cook (eds.) The Permanent Revolution? Conservative Law and the Trade Unions John McIlroy Taming the Trade Unions: a Guide to the Thatcher Government's Employment Reforms, 1980–1990, Charles G. Hanson Industrial Sociology and Economic Crisis John Eldridge, Peter Cressey and John MacInnes Making their Way, Education, Training and the Labour Market in Canada and Britain D. Ashton and G. Lowe (eds.) Training and its Alternatives D. Gleeson (ed.) Working Together: Labour-management cooperation in training and in technological and other changes Alan Gladstone and Muneto Ozaki, (eds.) Training for Older People: A Handbook Peter C. Plett and Brenda T. Lester Vulnerable Workers: psychosocial and legal issues, Marilyn J. Davidson and Jill Earnshaw (eds.) Business and Politics: A Comparative Introduction, (2nd. edn.) Graham K. Wilson Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Callus R., Morehead A., Cully M and Buchanan J. Comparative Industrial Relations: Contemporary Research and Theory Roy J. Adams (ed.) A Handbook of Dispute Resolution–ADR in Action Karl J. Mackie Negotiation from Theory to Practice Jacques Rojot The Mediator Revisited: Profile of a Profession 1960s and 1985 Ruth F. Necheles-Jansyn Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations in Industrialised Market Economies Roger Blanpain (General Editor) Volume23, Issue2June 1992Pages 155-173 RelatedInformation

Book Review: Labor-Management Relations: Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

Book Review: Labor-Management Relations: Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey.

Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey.

The Closed Shop in Australia

This paper reviews and up-dates previous work on the extent of compulsory unionism, or the closed shop, in Australia. It uses data from a secondary analysis of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey to estimate the extent, factors and sources of the closed shop in Australia. Four main conclusions are reached. First, the closed shop is a widespread phenomenon. Second, the main sources of variation in the closed shop are mainly sectoral, occupational and industrial. Third, the main sources of the closed shop are union-management agreements, custom and practice, and preference provisions in awards. Fourth, it is tentatively concluded that stability has characterized the closed shop at an aggregate level over the last decade, with changes being specific to certain industries.

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and Industrial Conflict

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and Industrial Conflict

The Making of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

Good social science research requires a significant problem … The social scientist is a man [sic] with a problem or he is nothing. (Bulmer 1982, 38)

Analyzing Workplace Industrial Relations: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Typology

Analyzing Workplace Industrial Relations: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Typology