Productivity, Restructuring and the Trade Union Role

The productivity slowdown in the Australian economy, especially in the manufacturing sector, is one of the driving forces behind current attempts to introduce microeconomic reforms into the economy. Central to reform proposals is the perceived role for industrial relations in influencing productivity growth. That there has been a productivity slowdown in Australia cannot be denied. However, available productivity evidence suggests that Australia's recent record is neither poor by international standards, nor is there evidence connecting industrial relations systems with productivity performance. There are conventional macroeconomic pressures bearing down on productivity growth in Australia; one such pressure is the effectiveness of the Accord in bringing about a substitution of labour for capital. Despite such evidence, workplace and industrial relations reforms remain at the forefront of the current drive towards improving labour productivity. The pressure for industrial relations reform is not confined to Government and employers, trade unions are playing an active, if not leading role in formulating and implementing such reforms. Various contradictions in the trade union role in this process are considered.