Forward with Fairness? Industrial Relations under Labor in 2008

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Cooper

The Rudd government was elected in late 2007 after a national election campaign centred squarely on industrial relations. In 2008, with a massive mandate, the government presented key pieces of legislation to the Australian parliament, aimed at moving away from the Howard government's Work Choices and toward implementing the `Forward with Fairness' election policy. The government's substantive industrial relations legislation — the Fair Work Bill — was introduced late in 2008 to widespread, though not universal, approval from trade unionists and, at first, muted acceptance and, later, and in the face of deteriorating economic circumstances, sharper criticism from employer groups.

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hall

Industrial Relations proved to be one of the dominant issues in the 2007 federal election campaign with the Government at first defending, and then moderating, their Work Choices legislation. The Labor Opposition benefited greatly from the successful Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) campaign against Work Choices and established a significant electoral advantage on the issue. Labor introduced its own IR policy alternative under the banner `Forward with Fairness' and then spent a good deal of 2007 trying to sell its policy to business. The final policy adopted by Labor, and set to become law over the next few years, represents something of a calculated political compromise. When the detail of the policy is considered the influence of the Work Choices laws is still very much apparent.


2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Oliver

Australian unions will remember 2007 as the year that their `Your Rights at Work' campaign contributed to the defeat of the Coalition Government. Industrial relations dominated the election campaign and remained at the centre of public policy and media debates throughout the year. Employers used the Howard government's Work Choices legislation to refuse to bargain with unions and to prevent lawful industrial action. Union officials and members were prosecuted for unlawful industrial action. In response, unions conducted a highly resourced and professional campaign aimed at changing the government and repealing Work Choices. However, the Australian Labor Party under new leader Kevin Rudd announced it would keep certain contentious aspects of Work Choices. Notwithstanding the defeat of the Coalition, barriers remain to unions' future growth and strength.


2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 752-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Markey ◽  
Ann Hodgkinson

Work Choices fundamentally restructured the Australian industrial relations system in 2005, by marginalizing the role of awards and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, privileging individual contracts and restricting industrial action by trade unions. The Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WRA) represented a significant first step in this direction prior to the Liberal National coalition gaining control of the Senate in 2005. However, there has been no extensive workplace data of the kind produced by the Australian Workplace Relations Survey to take stock of the impact of the WRA. This study undertakes a stocktake of the impact of the WRA for the Illawarra region. It compares data for trade unions, employer associations, forms of employee participation, workplace reductions, industrial disputes and payment systems from the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey 1996 with a further survey in 2004. It concludes that while the WRA did impact on the region, the Illawarra nevertheless maintained a distinctive pattern of industrial relations in which the New South Wales State system was more influential. If this provides any indication of the wider impact of the WRA, it offers strong reasons as to why the government proceeded with Work Choices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-281
Author(s):  
Sylvia Dümmer Scheel

El artículo analiza la diplomacia pública del gobierno de Lázaro Cárdenas centrándose en su opción por publicitar la pobreza nacional en el extranjero, especialmente en Estados Unidos. Se plantea que se trató de una estrategia inédita, que accedió a poner en riesgo el “prestigio nacional” con el fin de justificar ante la opinión pública estadounidense la necesidad de implementar las reformas contenidas en el Plan Sexenal. Aprovechando la inusual empatía hacia los pobres en tiempos del New Deal, se construyó una imagen específica de pobreza que fuera higiénica y redimible. Ésta, sin embargo, no generó consenso entre los mexicanos. This article analyzes the public diplomacy of the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, focusing on the administration’s decision to publicize the nation’s poverty internationally, especially in the United States. This study suggests that this was an unprecedented strategy, putting “national prestige” at risk in order to explain the importance of implementing the reforms contained in the Six Year Plan, in the face of public opinion in the United States. Taking advantage of the increased empathy felt towards the poor during the New Deal, a specific image of hygienic and redeemable poverty was constructed. However, this strategy did not generate agreement among Mexicans.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayunita Nur Rohanawati

AbstractThis study aims to determine the social security system adopted by Indonesia, see Indonesia as a function of the welfare state as mandated by the 1945 Constitution has not done well, and to know the view of progressive legal theory legislation related to social security in providing solutions to the problems of social security the workforce. This research is devoted to the study of normative legal systematics, which is intended to determine the implementation of a theory of the legal conditions that exist in society. Results of this study produces a secondary data. The data obtained from the document collection process or library materials. Of the collection process, the data were analyzed qualitatively, systematically arranged, and presented descriptively. The results showed that Indonesia is still not able to fully administer social security for the people, where social security is still a “black and white” but the State has not been able in practice to assume responsibility for the implementation of social security as a whole. About social security, the Government is still not able to provide significant changes to the equalization gain social security for the workers, but changes in social security regulations on labor is performed repeatedly. Necessary party whom dared to take a policy or decisions that benefit the workers to realize the welfare of the workers. Parties reffered to the law is used as a progressive peeler, is a party that has an important role that enterpreneurs and the Industrial Relations Court Judge.Keywords: Social Security, Labour, Progressive LawIntisariPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui sistem jaminan sosial yang dianut Indonesia, melihat fungsi Indonesia sebagai negara kesejahteraan sesuai amanat Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945 belum terlaksana dengan baik, serta untuk mengetahui teori hukum progresif memandang peraturan perundang-undangan terkait jaminan sosial tenaga kerja dalam memberikan solusi atas permasalahan jaminan sosial tenaga kerja tersebut.Penelitian ini bersifat normatif yang dikhususkan pada penelitian sistematika hukum, yang dimaksudkan untuk mengetahui implementasi pelaksanaan suatu teori terhadap kondisi hukum yang ada di masyarakat. Hasil penelitian ini menghasilkan suatu data sekunder. Data tersebut diperoleh dari proses pengumpulan dokumen atau bahan pustaka. Dari proses pengumpulan tersebut, data yang diperoleh dianalisis secara kualitatif disusun secara sistematis dan disajikan secara deskriptif.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Indonesia masih belum mampu secara seutuhnya menyelenggarakan jaminan sosial bagi rakyat, dimana jaminan sosial tersebut masih sebatas “hitam diatas putih” namun, negara belum mampu dalam pelaksanaannya untuk mengemban tanggung jawab pelaksanaan jaminan sosial tersebut secara utuh. Tentang jaminan sosial tenaga kerja, pemerintah masih belum mampu memberikan perubahan yang signifikan terhadap pemerataan perolehan jaminan sosial tenaga kerja bagi para pekerja tersebut, padahal perubahan peraturan tentang jaminan sosial tenaga kerja tersebut berulang kali dilakukan. Diperlukan pihak yang berani untuk mengambil suatu kebijakan atau keputusan yang bermanfaat bagi pekerja demi terwujudnya kesejahteraan bagi pekerja. Pihak sebagaimana dimaksud jika hukum progresif yang digunakan sebagai alat pengupas, adalah pihak yang memiliki peran penting yaitu pengusaha dan Hakim Pengadilan Hubungan Industrial.Kata Kunci: Jaminan Sosial, Tenaga Kerja, Hukum Progresif.


Author(s):  
Ifeanyi P. Onyeonoru ◽  
Kehinde Kester

Social dialogue as an aspect of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is aimed at promoting industrial democracy by encouraging consensus building among social partners in the work place. The significance lies, among others, in minimising conflicts to enable harmonious industrial relations. This study utilized specific case illustrations to examine the inclination of the Nigerian government towards social dialogue in government-labour relations, with particular reference to the Obasanjo era 1999-2007— a period associated with the globalization of democracy. The cases included the minimum wage award 2000, University Autonomy Bill, the price deregulation of the downstream oil sector and the Trade Union Amendment Bill 2004. It was found that the government exhibited a penchant for authoritarianism in spite of the globalization of democracy. This was evident in the incapacity of the Obasanjo government to engage the social partners in social dialogue as indicated by the cases reviewed. The study, however, highlighted the modest contribution to social dialogue made by the wider democratic structure. It was concluded that the government had limited capacity for consensus building, accommodation of opposition and negotiated outcomes in government-labour relations


Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 026339572110090
Author(s):  
David T Smith ◽  
Katie Attwell ◽  
Uwana Evers

COVID-19 vaccine development has been widely awaited, but concerns around acceptance and political polarisation prevail. We sought to determine the willingness of Australians to take a (then prospective) COVID-19 vaccine, compared with their previously recorded opinions about other vaccines. We also sought to determine reasons for hesitancy, levels of support for possible government mandates, and the political basis of support. We surveyed 1200 Australians, including 898 participants in a panel previously asked in 2017 about vaccines and mandates. In all, 66% of respondents indicated they would take a coronavirus vaccine, less than the 88% who in 2017 agreed that vaccines are safe, effective, and necessary. Also, 70% of the respondents who indicated hesitancy were concerned about the safety of the vaccine if it was developed too quickly, and 73% of all respondents agreed that the government should require a coronavirus vaccine for work, travel, and study. This is lower than the 85% who agreed with the childhood vaccine mandate in 2017, but slightly higher than the number of respondents who indicated that they would definitely be willing to take the coronavirus vaccine themselves. Older respondents, higher income respondents, and respondents who vote for major parties were all significantly more likely to take a coronavirus vaccine and to support government requirements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-260
Author(s):  
John Harrington

AbstractThe spread of COVID-19 has seen a contest over health governance and sovereignty in Global South states, with a focus on two radically distinct modes: (1) indicators and metrics and (2) securitisation. Indicators have been a vehicle for the government of states through the external imposition and internal self-application of standards and benchmarks. Securitisation refers to the calling-into-being of emergencies in the face of existential threats to the nation. This paper contextualises both historically with reference to the trajectory of Global South states in the decades after decolonisation, which saw the rise and decline of Third-World solidarity and its replacement by neoliberalism and global governance mechanisms in health, as in other sectors. The interaction between these modes and their relative prominence during COVID-19 is studied through a brief case-study of developments in Kenya during the early months of the pandemic. The paper closes with suggestions for further research and a reflection on parallel trends within Global North states.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-135
Author(s):  
Laura Janina Hosiasson

Abstract Four chronicles written by Alberto Blest Gana between April and May 1862 in the newspaper La voz de Chile, months before the publication of his novel Mariluán, shed light on the close relationship between his production as chronicler and writer. Among the various faits divers discussed in the columns, the issue of a Mapuche delegation’s arrival in Santiago to hold a parlamento with the government about border disputes arises. The oscillating attitude of the chronicler in the face of otherness and his prejudiced comments, which are at the same time full of doubts and perplexities, serve as an incentive for his composing a utopian fiction. This article aims to examine the connections in the relationship between Blest Gana chronicler and novelist to expand the reading possibilities of Mariluán.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4339
Author(s):  
Aditi Khodke ◽  
Atsushi Watabe ◽  
Nigel Mehdi

In the face of pressing environmental challenges, governments must pledge to achieve sustainability transitions within an accelerated timeline, faster than leaving these transitions to the market mechanisms alone. This had led to an emergent approach within the sustainability transition research (STR): Accelerated policy-driven sustainability transitions (APDST). Literature on APDST asserts its significance in addressing pressing environmental and development challenges as regime actors like policymakers enact change. It also assumes support from other incumbent regime actors like the industries and businesses. In this study, we identify the reasons for which incumbent industry and business actors might support APDST and whether their support can suffice for implementation. We examine the actor strategies by drawing empirical data from the Indian national government policy of mandatory leapfrog in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle emission control norms, known as Bharat Stage 4 to 6. This leapfrogging policy was introduced to speed up the reduction of air pollutants produced by the transport sector. A mixed-methods approach, combining multimodal discourse analysis and netnographic research, was deployed for data collection and analysis. The findings show that unlike the status quo assumption in STR, many incumbent industry and business actors aligned with the direction of the enacted policy due to the political landscape and expected gains. However, the degree of support varied throughout the transition timeline and was influenced by challenges during the transitioning process and the response of the government actors. The case suggests we pay more attention to the actors’ changing capacities and needs and consider internal and external influences in adapting the transition timelines. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the implementation of APDST, by examining the dynamism of actor strategies, and provides an overview of sustainability transitions in emerging economies.


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