A Brief Note On Australian Industrial Relations Act

TOPIC – The major issue tody facing the Australian trade union movement has been the decline in union density. What have been the causes, and how have the unions responded to the challenge. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2000, show that the decline in Australian union membership continues, despite the efforts of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), to stop the slide. The ABS reports that trade union membership has dropped to 28 percent of the total workforce, compared to 1992, where there was 40 percent. (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000.) Previous ABS findings show that these recent figures are part of a general trend, with no slight recovery

The implementation of the Fair Work Act 2009 which came into force on January 1st 2010, was to create a national workplace relations system for the purpose of setting wages and conditions of employment. This legislation is overlooked by the Fair Work Commission and ombudsman, whose role is to maintain a safety net of minimum wages and conditions and ensure compliance with the Fair Work Act. The creation of the Fair Work Act (2009) is to regulate business cooperation’s for the purpose of providing safety nets for minimum wages and entitlements, flexible working arrangements and ensure fairness at the workplace. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, ten National Employment Standards

Through the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was first established (‘History’, 2014). After that, via substantial legislative, social and economic development, the institution renamed the Fair Work Commission (FWC) by the Fair Work

After the abolition of slavery, the resentment which former slaves felt at their exploitation and the low wages plantation managers were prepared to pay, (which were below what a family could live on), turned the former plantation workers against work in agriculture. This refusal to continue to work on the plantations became, in an industrial relations context, the first "withdrawal of labour" or strike action. Eaton (2002) purports that the industrial relations response by the state, which was coeval with the mercantile class, co-operated in defeating the workers' protest action by

This essay concentrates on the employment law and how it affects employment agreement in New Zealand by the legal frameworks in which it develops employment relationship in relation to the Employment Relations Act 2000. As highlighted ‘the use of such triangular relationships creates complexities in the rights and responsibilities of each party’ . Means that the power of New Zealand’s employment law defines employers and employees across the statutes. The courts use the employment statues for their decision-making. Furthermore, the protection that is available to protect the interest of employees and independent contractors and its effectiveness.

I have proceeded to discuss whether in my opinion the laws in each country favour the employee, employer or government as well as discussing what the impacts are of the laws on organizational ability to employ Human Resource Management principles in the

Wedderburn has a significant point in his statement that United Kingdom employment relationships are highly regulated by law. It would be more accurate, however, to state that there are certain areas of employment law that are well regulated from a variety of different sources. Prior to denoting just what these sources are and what effects they have on various employers, employees, and organized labor unions, however, it is necessary to delineate the development of employment law throughout the United Kingdom which, given this region's lengthy history, is fairly recent.

Trade unions have been a central part of the Australian workplace. The workplace however has changed over the past two decades and it is possible that the role of trade unions within the workplace has been replaced by the introduction of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. As stated by Leigh, 2005 “from 1914 until 1980, at least two in five workers were members of a union” and unionism was therefore for the most part the dominant approach, in terms of employment relations. However current membership is at around 20 per cent and coinciding with this decline in trade union membership is the increase in the step away from collectivism to individualism and the use of strategic HRM practices in response to the shift from a

Over the last seventy-five years labor related issues has went through a dramatic changed that affects today labor movement. During the 1930's the labor movement gained due to the abundance of labor, employers easily replaced workers. Labor unions were established in order for workers to get organized and bargain for their needs and rights. These unions were created because it was known that groups have more power in bargaining than individuals. "When large groups of employees make joint decisions, employers are forced to listen to their concerns. For example, if all the workers in a factory stopped working at the same time, it would be difficult to keep the company operating. Early unions in North America faced a difficult battle. Employers refused to accept the unions. The courts often declared the unions illegal. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and other laws required employers to bargain with unions. Political parties and other groups have also become involved with the labor movement" (Labor Movement). Understanding the legal ramifications involved both with and without a union is a necessity for all human resource professionals. I will address the differences and similarities in employee relations approaches in both types of environments. In addition reviewing key aspects of labor relations law and the collective bargaining process, I will address the purpose of the Labor Relations Act and what it provides for workers.

In 2006, the Howard governments WorkChoices laws came in to effect. Employees saw this as opportunity to remove unfair dismissal protection, while reducing employee entitlement, removing the independent industrial arbitrator and ultimately weakening trade union muscle. (Wilson & Spies-Butcher 2011) In 2006-07, a critical movement came with the ACTU’s ‘Your rights at work’ campaign. The campaigns objective was to build enough opposition to WorkChoices in order to defeat the government during the 2007 election. It

However, during 2010, all the states in Australia except for Western Australia extended their jurisdictions to the Fair Work Act. In Queensland, the relevant act is the Industrial relations act 1999 (Qld) (Chapter 1-6 legal studies for Queensland volume two 6th edition).

Employers are usually subject to federal and long-term service holidays in 1992 to provide long-term service leave, employers in the construction industry under special provisions. Long-term service leave in 1997 provided for the construction of workers in the industry long-term service holidays. (Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997, Commonwealth)

The Workplace Relations Act of 1996 gave the Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) accessibility to ratify non-union collective agreements under enterprise bargaining at the workplace level, effectively decentralizing the union movement and reducing union control over employee working conditions (ABS Cat No 4102.0). The Act saw the prohibition of compulsory unionization and strengthened control that the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) had over illegal industrial action, allowing the AIRC to stipulate how much and for how long industrial dispute was lawful (Van Gramberg 2001). This period also endured a major privatization of the public sector occurred which promoted policies to foster a growth of precarious employment (Van Gramberg 2001).

a. Mr. Pity bought a BMW (reg. no. KK 8888) from Mr. Kaya at purchase price of RM 32,000.00.

The law essentially provided for the registration of trade unions, outlining certain requirements about their rules, trusteeship, accounts, amalgamation, dissolution and the filing of annual financial statements to a Registrar. The law however, unlike its counterpart British law at the time, did not give the right to “peaceful picketing or the common law disability of action in tort whereby trade unions could be sued for damages in consequence of strike action was not removed by the Trade Union Law in Jamaica.”  Conventional wisdom even at that time is that this omission was not accidental, and the expressions by the then Governor of Jamaica on that occasion were the Jamaican workers were not ready for trade unionism, acted as confirmation. (Henry 1982).