Australian Worker Representation and Participation Project (AWRPP)

Scope of the research:
Union membership has been steadily declining in Australia since the 1970s. Coupled with this decline in membership, Australian unions have had to bear the brunt of a deregulatory policy agenda aimed squarely at marginalising the role of third parties in the employment relationship. This marginalisation of unions has been further exacerbated by the enactment of the Workplace Relations Act in 1996 (Cth.) by the Liberal-National government, and its emphasis on individualised employment arrangements. With the election of the Howard government for a fourth term on 9 October 2004 , further changes to industrial relations are imminent and will further restrict union activities.

Project details:
In light of these significant changes to the Australian industrial relations landscape, the Australian Worker Representation and Participation Project (AWRPP) is both timely and significant. The AWRP project involved a national survey of one thousand employees. The project forms part of a six-nation study: USA , Canada , United Kingdom , New Zealand , Australia and Ireland . The survey comprised five major areas of inquiry: experiences of employment; unions; employee influence and involvement; management; and, union-management cooperation.

The AWRPP is important in furthering our understanding of current worker attitudes and experiences, the legitimacy and representativeness of trade unions, and the nature of work in the Anglo-American world, following a broader shift to neo-liberal policy ideals.

Findings:
Despite current concerns about work intensification and work-life balance in Australia , the survey findings reveal that employees are enthusiastic about work and their levels of involvement and influence. They also expressed positive attitudes to management, unions and union-management relations at the workplace.

Outcomes:

Book Chapter
Teicher, J., Holland, P., Pyman, A. & Cooper, B. forthcoming, 2007. Australian Workers: Finding their Voice? In R. Freeman, P. Boxall & P. Haynes (Eds.) Voice and voicelessness in the Anglo-American world: Continuity and transformation in employee representation, Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY.

Refereed Journal Article
Pyman, A., Cooper, B., Teicher, J. & Holland, P. in press, 2006. A comparison of the effectiveness of employee voice arrangements in Australia. Industrial Relations Journal, 37(5).

Professional IR Publication
Pyman, A. 2004. Individualism and collectivism: Competition or coexistence? Industrial Relations and Management Letter, 21(15), 8th November: 3-5.

Conference Papers
Pyman, A., Cooper, B., Teicher, J. & Holland, P. 2005. Industrial relations climate, employee voice and managerial attitudes toward unions. In H. De Cieri & C. Costa (eds.) Shifting the boundaries of employment and work, Proceedings of the inaugural conference for the Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work, Melbourne Australia, June 23-25.

Haynes, P., Holland, P., Pyman, A. & Teicher, J. 2006. Free riding in Australia. In H. De Cieri, A. Bardoel, R. Barrett, D. Buttigieg, A. Rainnie & K. McLean (Eds.) Socially responsive, socially responsible approaches to employment and work. Proceedings of the ACREW/KCL Conference, Prato Italy, July 1-4.

Researchers:
Dr Amanda Pyman Amanda.Pyman@buseco.monash.edu.au
Professor Julian Teicher Julian.Teicher@buseco.monash.edu.au
Dr Peter Holland Peter.Holland@buseco.monash.edu.au