We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
The Accord played the central role in union policy in the 1980s and 1990s. Consequently it has played a central role in popular explanations of union decline in that period. This chapter critically examines the impact of the Accord on union membership and the further changes that might be expected in the light of the Liberal–National Party Government's enactment of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. It identifies the propositions underpinning the argument that the Accord was a significant cause in the decline in union membership, considers ways of testing these propositions, and discusses the relationship between the Workplace Relations Act and union membership.
The Two Halves of the Accord and Their Impact on Union Membership
There are several ways in which the possible impact of the Accord could be tested. In order to do this, we first need to identify the plausible mechanisms by which the Accord could affect union membership. There are in effect three main mechanisms by which the Accord could influence the decline in union membership.
The first is a potential ‘real wage’ effect. The decline in real wages associated with the Accord could have led to employee dissatisfaction with unions and declining union propensity. Members may then have left unions since they no longer saw unions doing what they were meant to be doing – raising real wages.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
