Vol. 30 No. 2 2004

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https://hdl.handle.net/2328/27673

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    The Australian Strike Rate and Industrial Relations: a Brief Reply to Perry
    (National Institute of Labour Studies, 2004) Healy, Joshua Gregory
    N/A
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    Comments on the Decline in Strikes in Australia
    (National Institute of Labour Studies, 2004) Perry, L
    "This paper comments on the remarkable decline in strikes in Australia over the last couple of decades in the light of the recent analysis of the same subject matter offered in the Australian Bulletin of Labour by Healy (2002). In this paper a somewhat different perspective is offered on the main factors contributing to the decline in strikes in Australia to that offered by Healy (and others). The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 presents a brief review of the extent of the decline in strikes and a summary of Healy's perspective on principal reasons for the decline. Section 2 comments on the possible impact on strikes of changes in inflation, as well as a selection of other possible explanatory factors tested in the analyses of Morris and Wilson (1994, 1995, 1999, 2000) and Beggs and Chapman (1987a) but not discussed in Healy. Section 3 explores the issue of the impact of the Accord on strikes, and Section 4 comments on selected international aspects of the decline in strikes. Some concluding thoughts are offered in Section 5."
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    Gender Differences in Academic Rank in Australian Universities
    (National Institute of Labour Studies, 2004) Austen, S
    "This study uses information on staff and student characteristics at Australian universities to examine the determinants of the career outcomes recorded for male and female academic staff in 2003. A comparison is also made with data compiled for 2002. Significant differences exist between male and female academics in the probability that they will be employed in one of the top two academic grades. These differences persist even after account is taken of gender-based differences in age, qualifications, discipline area and institution characteristics. The paper discusses these results in the light of human capital theory and alternative economic models of gender-based differences in employment outcomes. Several suggestions are made about future research on gender equity in the university sector."
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    The Return of the Lockout in Australia: a Profile of Lockouts since the Decentralisation of Bargaining
    (National Institute of Labour Studies, 2004) Briggs, C
    "Virtually unheard of outside the struggles of unions to establish themselves in the 1880s-90s and the Great Depression1, lockouts have resurfaced in a series of disputes since the decentralisation of bargaining during the 1990s. A quantitative profile of lockouts during the past decade of enterprise bargaining is presented as the first phase of a project which examines lockouts in Australia. Lockouts are still rare, but the number of working days lost in disputes with lockouts was almost six times greater for the second half-decade of enterprise bargaining than the first half-decade. Moreover, lockouts accounted for over half of the long disputes (i.e. over a month). Lockouts are especially common in manufacturing (though all major ANZSIC categories have had at least one lockout), where they constituted one quarter of all working days lost to industrial disputes in the second half-decade of enterprise bargaining. Indeed, working days lost to industrial disputes in manufacturing would have fallen but for the rising use of lockouts. Other data are presented showing that lockouts are most common in Victoria, disproportionately common in regional areas and used primarily either to repel union bargaining demands, coerce employees into signing AWAs or as a tool for concession bargaining."
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    Workforce experience and retention in nursing in Australia
    (National Institute of Labour Studies, 2004) Dockery, Alfred Michael
    "The labour market for nurses appears to be persistently in a state of shortage, as evidenced by regular reports of ‘the nursing crisis’. This paper draws on data from two surveys to investigate critical aspects of the working lives of Australian nurses: a survey of Registered Nurses in Western Australia and the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia survey. While nurses face strong employment opportunity, consistent with an occupational shortage, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with aspects of their jobs. Despite strong dissatisfaction with pay, estimated wage equations suggest that, by and large, nurses’ pay is in line with that of other women when typical human capital variables are controlled for. Dissatisfaction with non-pay aspects of the job appears to have a stronger influence on overall job satisfaction and on intentions to leave the profession. The age profile and future intentions of the current nurse workforce suggests a continuing, if not worsening, shortage of qualified nurses in Australia."