Australian Industrial Relations Theory - Assignment Example

Take home exam: Industrial Relations Question 1: Treuren (2000), in an article entitled, ‘The concept of the state in Australian industrial relations theory’, questions and tries to answer the lack of apparent recognition for  the role that the state has to play in the manner in which the altruism of industrial relations were played out and decided in Australian research, thought and literature. He comes with an assumption stating that there was absence of the state from Australian literature with respect to the factors defining industrial relations, and goes on to explain the reasons for this absence. It is in these reasons that one would find the fact and myth of his assumption. First, he says, the manner in which industry would deal with its relations in terms of laborers and labor laws were set from the time that the federation came into existence, which meant that state factors that would have an impact on industrial relations were matters of historical and not of research on the subject. The expansion of relations meant that focus shifted to tribunals and trade unions instead of the state. The second reason he explains in terms of the fact that Australian theory related to the state and state’s role has been inspired by and large by the traditions inherent in the Anglo-Saxon thought. The fact that the state disappeared from these writings for a while after the war, reflected in Australian research as well. The third reason for the hesitant recognition of the state lies in the implicit theoretical dominance of pluralism within mainstream industrial relations. This was led by Dunlop who saw the state as simply one among the many agents, within the largely politically determined policy environment. This thought while recognizing the role of the state in the realms of decision and policy making, considers the processes inherent in the state as a reflection of the mandate of the larger electorate. One also finds validity for the assumptions in the fact that for most of the last century, the role of the state has seen it stand in support of collective methods of regulation and of dispute settlement. The extent of the state’s role was restricted to the employment of command and control regulations-hard legal rules that were backed by state enforced sanctions-the idea for the state was that there state ensure conciliation and arbitration compulsory. Most of this is to understood with a change in the policy stance of the state since the decade of the 1990s, when the state dropped its stance of collective bargain and there was a trend of individualization, wherein the role of the state changed from supporting collective responsibility to self regulation by industrial actors. The idea is to pose a challenge the aggressive collectivism posed challenge of unionization. It is in this context that one understands the role of the Fair Work Act, 2009, which brings the role of the state back in focus, first by individually coming to the defence of the laborer and second by discouraging collectivism (Forsyth, 2009). This would now bring us to the proposed jurisdiction of the Fair Work Act, 2009. The primary focus of the Act is in ensuring that the workers and the employees get a fair measure of the rights due to them and that there is no scope on part of the employer to cite incorrect reasons for their dismissal, ensuring that there is a certain level of protection against arbitrary treatment that is afforded to the employee vis-à-vis the powers of the employer. In this regard one needs to first analyse the very definition of the term dismissal as has been put forward by the Fair Work Act, 2009.   According to the Act, a person has not actually been dismissed if it can be proven that the employment that they had was under the force of a contract of employment. This however needs to be operational for a certain period of time, for specified tasks, or for the duration of a specified season, and employment was terminated at the end of the period, task or season. The dismissal is also considered void in case a training agreement was applicable to the one being employed and the employment that they had under this was for a particular interlude of time or restricted to the period of the preparation agreement and their employment was terminated at the end of the training arrangement. Finally, a person is not considered dismissed in cases where, the person was made to undergo a demotion without a significant reduction in pay or duties and they remained with the same employer (Section 386). Question 3: Disputes in general could be classified as individual or collective, depending on who initiates, or has the authority to initiate the dispute. Generally, an individual dispute is one involving an individual worker and collective dispute involves a group of workers that are usually represented by a trade union. A rights dispute is a legal dispute and involves the application or interpretation of rights under law or an existing provision set out in a contract of employment or a collective agreement. The dispute involves the interpretation, application, administration, or alleged violation of an existing collective agreement or award. An interest dispute on the other hand, is a dispute regarding the creation of rights or obligations or the modifications of those already in existence. An interest dispute involves settling the terms of a new collective agreement. Issues of interest are open in the sense, for instance, that a party can normally take action to force through a settlement. If no settlement can be reached, a dispute of interest cannot be brought before a court or other public body for a decision and there is a threat of an overt battle of strength between the parties in the form of an industrial dispute. Although issues relating to employee participation have the nature of issues of interest they are subject to the peace obligation in the case, for example, of negotiation on managerial decisions. A rights dispute arises where there is disagreement over the implementation or interpretation of statutory rights, or the rights set out in an existing collective agreement. By contrast, an interest dispute concerns cases where there is disagreement over the determination of rights and obligations, or the modification of those already in existence. Interest disputes typically arise in the context of collective bargaining where a collective agreement does not exist or is being renegotiated. The above mentioned dispute would fall under the category of an interest dispute given the fact that there is no consensus on whether or not an organization seeking second opinion before granting a sickness allowance would entail a breach of trust in doctors and constitute a right for doctors which were being tampered with. the fact that the doctors association would argue that there is a question mark over their honesty, is a justified conflict of interest, but it could not be a conflict of their right, especially in light of the fact that by seeking second opinion, the Australia Post is not flouting any rights in any negative connotation of the word. The first step toward the resolution of the dispute would be to conduct joint working sessions between members of the management of Australia Post and the Australian Medical Association, so that there could be an exploration of the perceptions about working relationships and a dialogue could be started on more collaborative ways of working. The idea should be, in essence to promote a system wherein, there is a facilitation of a change in the organisation’s ethos so that a cooperative approach is used to handle all workplace difficulties. Where the formula of the European Industrial Relations Observatory, is concerned, the basic idea is that there be a promotion of voluntary conciliation, which be made available so that there could be an assistance in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers.” It further recommends that such procedures should include equal representation of employers and workers, should be free and expeditious and that provision should be made to allow the parties to enter into conciliation voluntarily or upon the initiative of the conciliation authority. It also recommends that parties should refrain from strikes or lockouts while conciliation or arbitration procedures are in progress, without limiting the right to strike. Question 3: A collective bargaining agreement would be a contract between the employees who belong to the union and the employer. As is the case with any given contract, there is a termination date. One would have to understand and accept the fact that in cases such as these, there would always be a suspicion that would be cast on the role of the management that seeks to bring in technological changes. Interestingly, however, in most cases, according to research, it is management red-tapism and resistance to change and not labor unions that form the stumbling blocks to new technological advancements ad higher productivity. It has been concluded by researchers that employer representatives, particularly those in the middle rungs, that often could be cited as constituting the rel barrier to the introduction and effective use of technological innovation. In 1964, in fact the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that some of the major labor management efforts to protect against the effects of new technology have included: 1. Guarantees against job or income loss and in some cases, against loss of supplementary benefits for varying periods. 2. compensation for employees who lose their jobs 3. guaranteed income for workers required to take lower paying jobs 4. Provisions for retraining 5. provisions for transfer to other plants and payments of relocation expenses; and 6. Agreements to provide workers with notice of plant closings or other major changes. One would also need to understand the fact that there are three important variables that decide the reactions of the union, which could, in order of importance be numbered as first, the state of the economy, second the union leaders’ perception of the inevitability or the necessity of change and third the nature of the industry itself. In this regard onb would have to understand the fact that collective bargaining would, for the management hold, a vitally important rile in meeting with the challenge. The notion, in essence is that there is a great deal of leverage that is to be gained from the fact of flexibility that collective bargaining would have to offer. Historically, the Slichter, Healy and Livernash distinguish five principle policies that have an impact where unions and their acceptance of policy changes are concerned. there is the possibility of willing acceptance, of opposition of competition, encouragement and adjustment with the relevant effort to control the use of the technology. They note, in fact that “the most usual policy of unions toward technological change is willing acceptance…gain in productivity from the change may make it attractive by giving labor improved opportunity to bargain for wage increases. Unions may also be led by favorable bargaining opportunities to accept willingly technological changes that involve a mixture of advantages and disadvantages. In the context of this case, there are a number of factors that need to, first and foremost be placed under consideration. 1. There is a collective bargaining agreement in place 2. The agreement, accepts there is a scope for improvement in productivity through introduction of technology. There is also a stipulation for acceptance of change in the event of introduction of such technology-change which alter composition, operation or size of the Company’s workforce or in the skills required.   3. There is a stipulation that the management consult and deal with the collective union in the event of such technological introduction actually taking place. If one were to closely observe the duties and the responsibilities of the level 2 and level 3 workers one would find that there is an absence of a firm line that demarcates the one from the other. While the task of the level 3 employees was to check the regular passengers in, those working on level 2 had a more hands on responsibility, given the fact that they focuses primarily on the disabled passengers along with the children. For the airline to ensure that there is no resistance from the union or its members, the idea primarily would be to ensure that the technology and its uses are projected in a manner that predict an improvement in productivity of the airline, time saving in terms of the check-in exercise and to ensure that the staff feels excited with the concept of the new machinery and not feel threatened by it. The first job of the management would therefore, be to have a workshop where the values of the system could be exalted in front of the workers. Second, there should be use of powerful "coaching” techniques help employees attain personal and organizational goals. Thus, while there would be a temporary cut in pay, the idea should be project the technology upgrade as an opportunity for the staff to move ahead in terms of hierarchy. There should also be some difference kept between the salaries of the ones that would step down vis-à-vis the ones that were already working on level 2. The approach should be that of mutual investment, wherein from the outset, there has to be a communication of the value of long term loyalty and commitment to not just the task but to the job (Losey et. Al., 2005).  There should be provisions for training and further advancements for the staff demoted ahead of the present level 2 staff as well. The idea behind this focus is not just to improve skills for the current job but also to prepare the employee for future responsibilities. Job rotation and participation in cross functional or cross divisional tasks can get rid of the feeling of stagnation and boredom that seems to have set in (Charvatova and Veer, 2006). The idea is to give the employee a new challenge, continuously helping him evolve thereby adding greater value to the organization’s resources with the same amounts of inputs. There is also a certain amount of stress that needs to be laid on promotion from within the organization itself, thereby help remove the feeling of alienation and disillusionment from the staff.   There should also be the opportunity of a raise later. Reference: Forsyth, A., (2009). Fair Work: The New Workplace Laws and the Work Choices Legacy. Federation Press. pp168-170 Treuren, G., (2000), ‘The concept of the state in Australian industrial relations theory’. 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