Australia or Austmerica?

Australia or Austmerica?

Since the 90’s Australian Employment relations have undergone massive restructuring, some of which has brought it closer to the ‘American way’. Australia bounces between labour and liberal parties, going from state-controlled to more individualised and seen many changes along the way. Most significant are the legislative changes, structural changes, decline in union membership and power, increase in non-standard forms of employment and a shift away from centralised industrial relations systems and towards enterprise bargaining (Lansbury, Wailes 2011). These changes sound awfully similar to many other employment relations systems around the world, this however is not surprising as we already know that many countries have similarities and differences between their ER practices.

The question that I am interested in finding out more about is whether the rumours of Australia following the ‘American way of life’ are in fact true. Although their geographical locations are far apart, are their ER practices equally as challenged? As far as my research goes I think it is safe to say that there are many similarities however culturally and structurally I don’t think Australia and America can converge. Mostly because America is made up of 52 states (Gould 2010) with all states having differing practices while Australia is on a much lesser scale. However I am going to point out a few similarities mainly to do with unions and employees that I have found.

I have noticed that Australia like many other places such as Japan and Korea is moving towards non-standard employment forms such as casual and contract workers. In fact the majority of jobs created in the 90’s where casual (Bamber 2011). This has resulted in a massive union density decline due to the increase in non-formal workers who are not covered by unions, the same has been happening in America, except they in the process of union revitalisation. Australia are also putting greater emphasis on decentralised workplace bargaining which includes wage determination for employees, this signifies that this particular system is aligning closely with Americas.

Although there are some similarities that suggest convergence it depends on what perspective you see it from as there are many theories that suggest otherwise. In my opinion I think that the Australian employment relations system is in a period of change and adopting a more individualistic approach, and through this process taking on parts of America’s employment relations that suit.  

Deception of the International Labour Standards

The implementation of International Labour Standards is designed to improve the lives, rights and security of people around the world. In today’s globalized economy international labour standards are seen as essential in ensuring that economic growth provides benefits to all people and to put a stop against bad working conditions and pay.

However there seems to be an issue for these global conditions to actually reach certain groups of people, including those who need it the most. These standards look great on the outside however on the inside they are just empty promises for those workers who are in need of them most. They help the stable workers while the casual and contract workers in poorer countries are left uncovered by unions and on the outside of these standards, left untouched and vulnerable.

So it seems that these standards are helping the secure workers and making their conditions better, however failing to reach those who actually need it most. If these regulations aren't fulfilling their main goal of equalizing workforce conditions than what is the point of these standards in the first place? There needs to be stricter rules on the chains of production making sure all workers involved in this are covered and not just the first line of contact. The workers who are missing out are most likely not even educated about what conditions they deserve and will continue to be left out of the equation until these laws are reinforced in the correct way, not just on the surface to look like they are doing a good job. We need to stop the drift between stable workers and those left vulnerable, and amend these standards to address all groups in need. 

The European Social Model- Best Of Both Worlds?

The European people are said to care most deeply about: peace, security, democracy, justice and solidarity. This is a big contrast to American society who adheres mostly with the principles of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It is no secret that the Europeans and Americans are majorly contrasted in their way of life, which is clearly reflected in their culture, as opposed to the European social model, which binds Europeans together through many models that share broad characteristics.

The Social model is said to be divided into 4 groups, which represent the different parts of Europe who have chosen what is most important to them while still remaining under the EU. The social model sets out to reduce poverty, protect against labour market risks and rewards labour participation. However Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal are still faced with high unemployment rates, perhaps this is due to their differing interests which are based more heavily on pensioners and less on social assistance.

The EU social model seem to have the best of both worlds in some ways due to their overarching beliefs and values that flow across all parts of the model, however each segment are allowed to have their own priorities. Those in the Nordic model including the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark seem to the be the most wealthy states in comparison to the Mediterranean model including places such as Spain and Greece. It may be apparent that their differing welfare states could be the reason why those in the Mediterranean model are suffering such high unemployment rate.

Labour Movements

Labour Movements- By Liv

The topic of labour movements is something I personally find quite interesting. At first I stared at this topic blankly thinking about what I knew, then I realized that we are currently in the midst of a major labour movement- however this one isn’t leading to better conditions for employees it has been more detrimental to people and their professions in the past year especially.  

I then thought, how are trade unions linked with this movement? BBC claims that union membership has taken a massive decline from when it was at its highest (post world- war) to now. When I look at the economy at what it is currently I see many people being offered redundancies as their positions are now unneeded or companies can no longer afford to employ these people. This for obvious reasons has an effect on the density of union membership as jobs that used to be covered by unions are no longer there = less union membership. 

In my current job I have seen a rise in technology and competitors have a major effect on the success of the company, I know that this doesn’t really describe labour movements, but it does describe the way that changes to our workforce is resulting in a decline of union membership.