Overview

What is the scope and scale of corporatisation and privatisation in Australia in the past two decades and what are their implications for management, labour and industrial relations? This book documents the extensive scale of this process of state restructuring and the increasing variation in the arrangements for providing public goods and services, often accompanied by uncertainty. It shows many sectors of the community to be increasingly distrustful of their impact and consequences, and the way in which policy makers find themselves caught between promoting the reforms, predominantly for economic reasons, and answering to this suspicious community. It shows that it is those who actually provide public services who feel the changes most acutely, as they face questions about ownership, find their arrangements for work patterns and organization recast, and suffer increasing insecurity about work and employment futures. The book grapples with these issues through a series of case studies on Qantas, Telstra, the electricity industries in NSW and Victoria, Job Network, Local government and the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria. These seven case studies, three of privatisations by the Australian Federal Government, and four of change initiated by State Governments, provide a detailed analysis of the resulting changes in employment and industrial relations.

Full Product Details

Author:   Peter Fairbrother ,  Michael Paddon ,  Julian Teicher
Publisher:   Federation Press
Imprint:   Federation Press
Weight:   0.358kg
ISBN:  

9781862874053

ISBN 10:   1862874050
Pages:   296
Publication Date:   January 2002
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Unknown
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Corporatisation and Privatisation in Australia Peter Fairbrother, Michael Paddon and Julian Teicher Entering the International Aviation Industry: Privatisation of QANTAS Rai Small Internationalising Telecommunications: Telstra Ruth Barton Preparing for the National Electricity Market: The New South Wales Electricity Industry Duncan MacDonald and Mark Bray The Advent of Multi-national Ownership of the Victorian Electricity Generating Plants: Questions for Labour Peter Fairbrother and Jonathon Testi Privatisation by Stealth The Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria Ruth Barton Where are the Jobs in the Job Network?: Competitive Tendering of Employment Services Patricia Ranald Privatising Local Government: The Victorian Experience Julian Teicher and Bernadine Van Gramberg State Restructuring and Labour Peter Fairbrother and Michael Paddon

Reviews

The seven in-depth studies provide detailed insight into the machinatons of privatisations and how organisations and work have been reconstructed during this process. Each study stands alone ... and addresses similar issues: the political precursors to privatisation, the process of privatisation, and the changing contours of managment-union-employee relations. However, across most contributions there is scant attention to actual bread and butter outcomes for employees, with focus more squarely on union-management relations and how this has been transformed in a 'competitive government' environment. The breadth and depth of the case studies is commendable and reflects the all-encompassing nature of government privatisation agendas across Australia. ...One of the key lessons from the book, and one which ties the cases together, is the power of competition, real or threatened, to undermine collectivism, shift labour to 'survival mode' and induce concession bargaining and work re-organisation. The power of competition cannot be underestimated in this context ... - Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 45(1), March 2003

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