Search

ABSTRACTThis paper contributes to the literature on the changing nature of work and employment by focussing on the commercial and residential segments of the construction industry in one Australian state. Three key drivers of change in work and employment are identified and discussed: a changing competitive environment, technological advances in building methodologies and materials and a series of workforce-related issues. The findings are analysed through a theoretical lens which allows for a characterization of the nature, direction and extent of change in the industry. This combination allows for a characterization of the nature, directionand extentof change in the industry. Using interviews with key industry informants we identify and highlight reconfigurations of work and employment. A key finding of the study is that while technological advances are likely to give rise to some form of job destruction and deskilling, current developments are following an evolutionary rather than discontinuous trajectory of change.

The annual conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) provides an opportunity for those interested in industrial relations and related disciplines to get together in a friendly and convivial environment to present their latest research and discuss the latest developments in the field. The 2014 Conference held in Melbourne carried on this tradition. We provide a brief outline of the conference and summarise some of the key issues included in the many discussions that took place.

AbstractThe development of the call centre sector as a significant area of employment growth and organisational support service has been phenomenal in the last decade. Equally, the globalisation and outsourcing of this industry has also continued at pace. To this extent academic research has struggled to keep up with a sector that does not fit the traditional models of business development. Indeed, it is an industry that reflects the increasing emphasis on knowledge and e-commece as the way to do business and might for all intents and purposes be described as an industry that is born global. Despite this modern scenario, the problem of managing employees in routinised jobs, often in stressful conditions, remains. This paper attempts to step back from the current debate and examine the paradoxes and problems of managing human resources in a global context. This culminates in the development of a tentative framework to help develop research in this area of human resources from a global, multi-disciplinary context.

AbstractThis article analyses the privatisation processes at work in Australia, and assesses their significance to the employment relationship. The argument has five aspects. First, it is argued that privatisation is a key element in a process of state restructuring. Second, the various Australian governments have pursued distinctive policies towards state restructuring; and the objective, content and consequences of privatisation programs have thus been divergent. Third, it is argued that Australian politicians who advocate privatisation tend to do so in terms of its practical benefits in reducing state debt and improving efficiency, promoting a ‘de-politicised’ version of privatisation, when in reality decisions to privatise are inescapably linked to power and authority in capitalist society, as during the processes of privatisation, the relationship between governments and organised labour is recast in order to establish the basis for control and exploitation. Fourth, it is argued that differences in policy between state governments have arisen more from the balance of power between rural and metropolitan interests than from overt ideological differences between political parties. Finally, future developments are likely to be shaped by two opposing forces: on the one hand, National Competition Policy will promote convergence towards privatisation; on the other hand, the adverse effects of privatisation on employment and employment conditions will increase resistance to further privatisations.

AbstractThe provision of non-industrial services has been usually regarded as a minor sideline of unionism, and the subject has accordingly not attracted much research interest. However, because of the slump in union density within Australia over the past decade, some union leaders have promoted the increased provision of such services as a possible means of either recruiting new members or retaining existing members. This study analyses the level of members 'interest in such services. In particular, it explores the attitudes of members of a large amalgamated union towards the provision of discounts on a range of goods and services, whether such services can be grouped into meaningful factors, and whether or not it is possible to identify groups of people most likely to be interested in using such services.