Comments on the Decline in Strikes in Australia

Abstract

"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."