scholarly journals Unions and collective bargaining in Australia in 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110035
Author(s):  
Mark Bray ◽  
Johanna Macneil ◽  
Leslee Spiess
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Legislative Change ◽  
Great Uncertainty ◽  
Difficult Times

The sudden and dramatic lockdowns in Australia resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic brought great uncertainty and much change during 2020. This review concentrates on the impacts of these contextual changes on Australian unions and collective bargaining. Union efforts to cooperate with governments in policy-making and with employers at a workplace level were greeted with applause. But other arenas, as the crisis moderated, saw more traditional adversarialism. In particular, the failure of the parties to agree on legislative change meant that the government’s ‘omnibus’ bill, presented to parliament in December, would prove controversial and strongly contested in the new year. The structure and process of collective bargaining seemed to change remarkably little in 2020. A closer examination of the practice and outcomes of collective bargaining, however, suggests continued difficult times for workers and unions.

Trade union revitalisation: Where are we now? Where to next?

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lyhne Ibsen ◽  
Maite Tapia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
Institutional Contexts

In this article, we review and assess research on the role of trade unions in labour markets and society, the current decline of unions and union revitalisation. The review shows three main trends. First, trade unions are converging into similar strategies of revitalisation. The ‘organising model’ has spread far beyond the Anglo-Saxon countries and is now commonplace for unions as a way to reach new worker constituencies. Thus, even in ‘institutionally secure’ countries like Germany and the Nordic countries, unions are employing organising strategies while at the same time trying to defend their traditional strongholds of collective bargaining and corporatist policy-making. Second, research has shown that used strategies are not a panacea for success for unions in countries that spearheaded revitalisation. This finding points to the importance of supportive institutional frameworks if unions are to regain power. Third, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, unions are building external coalitions with other social movements, including across borders, to compensate for the loss of power resources that were tied to national collective bargaining and policy-making. Research has shown that unions, even in adverse institutional contexts, can be effective when they reinvent their repertoires of contention, through political action or campaigning along global value chains.

Private Equity and American Labor: Multiple, Pragmatic Responses Mirroring Labor’s Strengths and Weaknesses

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry W. Beeferman
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Regulatory Policy ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Legislative Change ◽  
High Profile ◽  
American Society ◽  
American Labor ◽  
Made In

This article briefly describes the recent growth of private equity, details some of the challenges such growth has posed for American labor, and outlines ways in which labor has chosen to respond. In so doing it suggests that the diverse, complicated, and practical choices labor has made to date have been shaped by the particular strengths and weaknesses of its position in American society. More particularly, these choices place the emphasis on (1) legislative change, relating mainly to tax rather than regulatory policy (labor-related or otherwise); (2) capital strategies, by which unions and pension funds engage companies in connection with corporate governance and investments that might be made in or withheld from them; and (3) high-profile campaigns relating to the reputation of private equity firms and their investee companies (as compared to traditional means of securing union recognition or exercising collective bargaining rights).

Regulating Strip-Based Entertainment: Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and the Ex/Inclusion of Dancers’ Perspectives and Needs

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teela Sanders ◽  
Kate Hardy ◽  
Rosie Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Impact Study ◽  
Research Dissemination ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Legislative Change ◽  
Key Stakeholders

This article showcases a research, dissemination and impact study on the striptease industry that explores why key stakeholders (dancers) are excluded, and ways that inclusion in policy development is achievable. This form of erotic work has undergone increased attention from policy and regulatory officials in recent years with the introduction of a new licensing process as venues are categorised as Sexual Entertainment Venues. The article will demonstrate how community and campaign group voices were heard over that of the dancers themselves, who were not consulted in the process of the legislative change. However, the article shows how small but significant interventions into policy development by direct work with stakeholders (here Licensing Committees and officers) can make steps towards an inclusion of dancer welfare and safety issues. Finally, we propose a set of principles that can ensure dancer and sex worker voices are included in policy consultation and decision making to ensure evidence-based policy making.

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