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Award Restructuring, Workplace Reform and the Changing Nature of Australian Industrial Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

R E Fells
R E Fells*
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia
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Abstract

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This paper examines the changes taking place in Australian industrial relations. It takes as its starting point the policy objective of improving workplace productivity and examines the impact of reforms on this objective using Lewin’s framework for the analysis of change and a mining operation as a case study. The paper suggests that the reforms are only facilitative and this exposes a reliance on management for the achievement of the policy objective. The dominance of managerial perspective changes the fundamental nature of the industrial relations system and raises several important policy considerations, in particular issues relating to the recognition of trade unions.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , December 1993 , pp. 257 - 278
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1993

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