Industrial Relations: Analyzing Unions and the NSW Worker Dispute

This report provides an analysis of the role of unions, specifically focusing on the NSW worker dispute in Australia. It begins with an introduction to the dispute, highlighting the issues of wages and working conditions that led to the 24-hour strike by rail, bus, and tram workers. The report then delves into the general role of unions in protecting workers' rights, improving workplace environments, and fostering healthy relationships between management and employees. The success of the NSW worker union in addressing the workers' grievances is evaluated, noting both its achievements in drawing attention to the issues and its failures in achieving complete resolution. Recommendations for improving union effectiveness, such as maintaining professionalism and focusing on long-term solutions, are provided. Finally, the report discusses the broader implications of unions in contemporary Australian society, emphasizing their importance in upholding employment standards and advocating for fair treatment of workers. Desklib offers a variety of resources for students, including solved assignments and past papers, to further explore these topics.

Running head: ADVANCED STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
ADVANCED STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Name of the Student
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Analysis on the role of unions................................................................................................2
3. The success of the union........................................................................................................2
4. Recommendations for the betterment of the union................................................................3
5. Implications of the role of union in the contemporary Australian society.............................4
6. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................4
7. Reference................................................................................................................................5

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1. Introduction
In the Australian history, NSW worker dispute can be considered as one of the
popular worker movement. The train worker dispute has become the major concern for the
Australian government in the current scenario. The NSW worker strike was against the
Transport management and transport minister of Australia. It has been identified that due to
the long tuning industrial dispute, the wages related issues in Australia has encouraged the
employees towards the movements against the industrial activities (Gospel, Pendleton and
Vitols 2014). It has been identified that due to the increasing numbers of challenges regarding
the time table and wages, the dissatisfaction among NSW rail workers has increased. It has
been identified that the NSW workers have decided to strike for 24 hours because of their
dispute pay structure. Not only the rail workers, but also bus and tram union have participated
in the strike for solving their management issues. Due to the improper wages infrastructure
and lack of flexible working time table, the union attempted the negotiation process for more
than 9000 workers from last 6 months. It has been identified that the NSW trains
management has refused to participate in the negotiation process. They refused to introduce
the fair enterprise agreement, which has created the dissatisfaction among the workers. After
this situation, the workers had decided to stop their work at 12.01 am on 29th January, 2018.
In order to implement the strike plan, the commuters had been informed by the Unions for
alternative arrangements (Forsyth 2012). In this study the role of the union will be analysed
by highlighting the NSW worker union. After discussing the role of the union, whether it was
successful for that particular situation or not has been highlighted. Analysing both the
positive and negative side of the unions, the measurable recommendations have been
discussed in the paper. At the end of the study thee implications of the unions, in Australian
contemporary society have been discussed.
2. Analysis on the role of unions
In order to fight for the workers’ right, the role of unions is important. The union
plays the role to resolve the organizational problems in case of improving the situation of the
employees in workplace. The goal of the unions is to provide better environment to the
employee in the workplace, so that the work- life balance can be maintained. On the other
hand, it cannot be denied that health and job security regarding issues are being considered as
the important role of the unions. In other words, it can be said that the role of union is to
empower the workers so that they will be able to negotiate for their own rights. Union

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encourages the workers for raising their voice for their favourable working condition (Dahlen
et al. 2012). It is true that depending on the initiatives of the unions, the healthy relationship
between the management and the employees are being maintained. The compensation as well
as the job security structure in an organization is being influenced by the active initiatives of
the organization. In case of NSW worker union, it can be said that the union was established
in1871. In case of this union, the fund comes from the organizations. It has been identified
that in the current situation, the union has raised its voice for all the working people in
Australia. By introducing the effective working policies and following the legislations, the
aim of the union is to provide the healthy working environment to the employees (Hogan
2012).
Since 1972, the NSW worker union is fighting for bringing the improvement in
workers’ life. After the different initiatives of NSW unions, the sick leave expansion,
increasing annual leave and long service leave have become possible in for the employees.
With different initiatives of NSW union, fair work act, minimum wages, casual works,
unfair dismissal, discrimination and redundancy act have been introduced in the workplace. It
is responsibly of the unions to monitor if the national employment standard is being
maintained or not (Australianunions.org.au 2018). By introducing the flexible working
facility, the NSW has tried to arrange time for children care. After the birth of child, the 12
months unpaid parental leave has been introduced the Australian union. By following the
Minimum wages structure rule, the NSW union has introduced the 24 hours strike, so that
employees will get proper wages (Australianunions.org.au 2018). Therefore, this can be said
that, role of union is essential in terms of maintaining the employment standard in the
workplace.
After analysing the situations of the role of the NSW unions in 24 hours NSW over
pay dispute case, it can be said that due to the active participation of NSW union, the workers
have raised their voice against the terrible management system of Australian government. it
cannot be denied that due to the active participation of the union, the Australian government
has agreed to discuss the matter with the workers. Due to lack of flexible time table and lack
of decent recognition, the union has raised voice against the management. Due to the active
participation of the union throughout the year, the major number of works has supported their
initiatives (Australianunions.org.au 2018). Therefore, this can be said that the role of the
unions is very important in case of bringing the employment standard in the workplace. It is
also true that depending on the union performance, the overall benefits of the employees are

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being introduced in the workplace. Depending on the initiatives of the unions, the
organizations maintain the healthy relationship with the employees as the unity of the
workers can bring the major financial loss for the institutions. It is also true that depending on
the role of the workers the overall development of the employees are being done.
3. The success of the union
According to Healy (2015), the unions are one of the most vital aspects of any
industry as that leads to a number of facilities for the workers both in the short and long
period of time. The unions have a number of role to play in the overall management of the
people and so it becomes quintessential to have that amount of believe in the union that they
will foster good to the workers for the longer period of time (Coe 2013). The success of the
unions is one of the most important aspects of the work organizations as without the success
of the said agents, the workers would not have the voice to make sure that their rights are
being fulfilled by the people in the prolonged span of time.
According to McGowan (2018), the NSW train case that is one of the most vital
events in the early 2018 saw the emergence of the worker union in one of the most pivotal
matter. The 24 hour rail strike which is one of the most important events in the recent times
made sure that the workers of the times are getting their dues by negotiation with the
government and the union organizations (Cooper 2012). The unions have been one of the
most pivotal aspects that is there in the prolonged time span which have made sure that the
NSW case in the early 2018 due to the train strikes have affected the workers in a positive
way.
The union’s demands regarding the demands related to wages and time table problems
was one of the most anticipated problems that was moderately successful with a number of
flaws and drawbacks of the same matter (Waterman 2016). The unions is one of the most
well organized matter which made considerable contributions in the case elaborated.
In regards to the NSW train strike case that is one of the most important events in the
early 2018, the role of unions has been significant, however the whole negotiation between
the two parties had not significantly made any solutions. The people of the NSW case were
dependent on the unions to have their matters sorted which means that the dependency on the
union matters was quite evident in the case (NSWgovernment.com 2018). The unions also
played their part which means that the people of the unions had their own implications and
this led to the results that were anticipated by the people in the longer run.

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According to ABC News (2018), the NSW case is one of the cases in which the
success of the unions was evident though the government of South Wales did not accept the
same. The Government of South Wales was one of the most evident governments that
acknowledged the need of the reforms and controlled it in their own way after implementing
the results, however they deemed the unions as unethical in the said matter. The unions made
considerable amendments to the fact of the different forms of unions that is there for the
government sector however, the way in which the unions behaved in the case was outright
not professional.
The rogue behaviour of the unions is one of the most significant drawbacks of the
case which can be deemed as a kind of failure. However according to Unions NSW(2018),
the success of the whole matter is integral to the case as without the success of the matters it
becomes difficult for the people to handle the case with the legal terms. According to
Hensher et al. (2012), the success of the union in this case is partial with the fact that it
succeeded to draw the attention of the South Wales government into the matter and take into
consideration the effects that is there in the case. However, the whole case was not fully
successful as all the demands by the workers of the unions was not fulfilled and that led to a
number of problems for the workers. According to Saha, Sen and Maiti (2013), the various
problems of the trade unions including the increment in amount of wages as well as the
scheduled time of work was not fully done by the government as they had implied partial
implementation of the same cases. The strike was ruled out after the government
implemented the said process and made partial allocation of the demands as done by the
workers.
At the end of the discussion of the success and failure of the labour union it can be
said that in spite of the repeated efforts of the NSW labour unions as well as the authorities,
the success has not been prominent and demands change in the ultimate matter.
4. Recommendations for the betterment of the union
The labour unions have to implement a number of recommendations for the
betterment of their work in the longer period of time. The people of the unions have to be
well aware of the fact that the labours as well as the government or the authorities have to
deal with a number of ways of the unions to make sure that the unions perform better in the
concerned time span. The recommendations for the betterment of the labour union in respect
to the NSW case of the early 2018 are as follows –

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 One of the basic recommendations of the unions is to make sure that their voice is
raised in a professional and the etiquette manner. According to Bonoli (2017), the
labour unions represent the people who are working under the organizations and it is
the duty of the unions to have the level of the voice which can be heard with the
professional sense. The way in which the labour union tact was conducted was rogue
and unethical which means that the way and matter of the unions is to be upgraded for
the better working of the union in the future sense.
 All the acts of the unions have to be in coordination with the government and the
authorities bodies that are there in the country. A labour union cannot work on its own
and has to abide by some of the rules and regulations that are present in the country
and the kind of the workplace that is there.
 The knowledge of the various kinds of acts that are there for the betterment of the
labour unions is to be known by the people who are leading the union which can be of
great help for them when they are looking for their rights amidst the authorities’
dictations. The acts of the said case can be of like the following –The Fair Work Act,
The Act for Leave and Public Holiday Entitlements, The Act of Safe work and
bullying, The Minimum Wage Act, The Anti-discrimination act of the country
(Finbow 2017). In the case of NSW in the early 2018, the acts were breached and the
workers of the trade union had no idea on the ways in which it could have been
improved in the prolonged time span.
 The unions are the organizations which can be of great help to the people who are
working for the people of the organizations and also for the people who are under the
influence of the people. The unions act as the umbrella which protect the workers
from all the hazards of the time should be honest to their work and free from
corruptive measures. The unions of the organizations are one of the potential ways in
which the workers exert their rights on the people and so the unions should be of great
help to the people.
 Another recommendation for making the union of potential help is to analyse the role
of the union and the importance of the union in the said matter. The NSW case
analyses unions as one of the potential ways in which the whole matter is to be
analysed and also to the fact that the unions do have some role in making a whole
matter success. The workers of the unions are the potential source of the betterment of
the union in terms of their feedbacks and solutions which should be kept in mind
while analysing the union and their roles.

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 The negotiation of the workers of the unions with the authorities have to be in parallel
with the case which means that due negotiations of the whole task has to be
maintained to have the detailed amount of work in the said matter. The NSW case
sees the continuous negotiation between the unions and the authorities which should
be solved with the continuous efforts.
5. Implications of the role of union in the contemporary Australian society
In the words of Yates and Fairbrother (2013), it cannot be denied that due to the
increasing challenges in workplace, the unions are playing active role for dealing with the
situations. However, it is also true that in some of the cases the country has introduced
effective management policies for the employees. In the current business scenario, it cannot
be denied that the union has higher level of contribution in case of empowering the
employees so that they will be able to raise their voice for their own right. After analysing the
situations of last few years, it has been identified that with the increasing wage stagnation and
increasing inequality in the workplace, Australian workers are dealing with several
challenges (Markbutler.net.au, 2018). Analysing the labour market trend, it can be said that
after the involvement on unions, the workers have got the progressive platform in the
Australian industry. However, it is also true that economic inequality all over the country has
become the major concern for the government (Martin, Sunley and Wills 2012). On the other
hand, it is true that in the current situation, the healthy union movement has become
necessary for dealing with the current challenges in Australian society. In case of Australian
society, the unions are trying to introduce the liberal agreements in the workplace. It is also
true that in new century, the increasing availability of the unions have brought another
challenge for the society. It cannot be denied that the role of union in Australian society is
very important, however, it is also true that in some of the cases the union leader takes the
advantages of the situation and rather than negotiating for the workers, they do individual
settlements.
In order to determine the fairer economic and social compact in the Australian
contemporary society, the role of the union is important. In case of dealing with the
devastating conflict and economic hardship, the unions play the significant role. In case of
understanding the threats in business community, the active participation of the unions since
1972 cannot be denied. Like the UK and European countries, Australian social insurance
program and wages structure needed to be improved for bringing the progressive platform. In

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such cases the contribution of the unions cannot be denied. On the other hand, it is also true
that the government of Austral has become against of the trade unions. As the trade unions
are popular for their active participation of economic and social role through the movements,
the participation of the unions in the business segment is very important. Therefore, the cold
war between the government and union has become important for the current society. It has
been identified that from the last few decades the Australian unions are trying to improve the
wags structure in the workplace; however, it is also true that after the different initiatives of
the unions, the government has not brought any changes in the wages structure (Stevis and
Felli 2015). It can be said that the union initiatives has not brought any kind of changes in the
wages structure, but it has brought various employment standard related policies, which are
important in case of bringing the progress in this sector.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that in spite of the tremendous pressure from the side of
the unions in the matter of NSW case in the year 2018, there has not been any significant
results that can prove the worth of the unions and the success factors regarding the same
matter in the due course of time. However, the way in which the unions have made their
impact on the authorities and have succeeded in making a stir in the political scenes of South
Wales in Australia is commendable which is of the fact that the power of the labour union is
of great worth. The NSW case in the year 2018 is one of the most important cases in the
recent history and the labour unions do have their share of roles in the matter making the
NSW train workers dispute in early 2018 a significant matter.

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7. Reference and bibliography
ABC News. 2018. No more train strikes as rail workers agree to new pay deal. [online]
Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-24/nsw-rail-workers-agree-to-pay-deal/
9583618 [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Australianunions.org.au 2018 [online] Available at:
https://www.australianunions.org.au/fair_work_factsheet/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Australianunions.org.au 2018 [online] Available at:
https://www.australianunions.org.au/bullying_factsheet/[Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Barrientos, S.W., 2013. ‘Labour chains’: Analysing the role of labour contractors in global
production networks. The Journal of Development Studies, 49(8), pp.1058-1071.
Bengtsson, E., 2014. Do unions redistribute income from capital to labour? Union density
and wage shares since 1960. Industrial Relations Journal, 45(5), pp.389-408.
Bonoli, G., 2017. Labour market and social protection reforms in international perspective:
parallel or converging tracks?. Taylor & Francis.
Coe, N.M., 2013. Geographies of production III: Making space for labour. Progress in
Human Geography, 37(2), pp.271-284.
Cooper, R., 2012. The gender gap in union leadership in Australia: A qualitative
study. Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(2), pp.131-146.
Dahlen, H.G., Tracy, S., Tracy, M., Bisits, A., Brown, C. and Thornton, C., 2012. Rates of
obstetric intervention among low-risk women giving birth in private and public hospitals in
NSW: a population-based descriptive study. BMJ open, 2(5), p.e001723.
Finbow, R.G., 2017. The limits of regionalism: NAFTA's labour accord. Routledge.
Forsyth, A., 2012. Workplace conflict resolution in Australia: The dominance of the public
dispute resolution framework and the limited role of ADR. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 23(3), pp.476-494.
Gospel, H., Pendleton, A. and Vitols, S. eds., 2014. Financialization, new investment funds,
and labour: an international comparison. Oxford University Press.

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Healy, J., 2015. The Australian labour market in 2014: Still ill?. Journal of Industrial
Relations, 57(3), pp.348-365.
Hensher, D.A., Truong, T.P., Mulley, C. and Ellison, R., 2012. Assessing the wider economy
impacts of transport infrastructure investment with an illustrative application to the North-
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Hogan, M., 2012. Michael Hogan (ed.), Labor Pains: Early Conference and Executive
Reports of the Labor Party of NSW. Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social
History, (102), pp.248-250.
Markbutler.net.au 2018. [online] Available at: https://markbutler.net.au/news/speeches/the-
future-of-unions-in-australia-and-the-implications-for-labor/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Martin, R., Sunley, P. and Wills, J., 2012. Union retreat and the regions: The shrinking
landscape of organised labour. Routledge.
McGowan, M. 2018. Sydney train strike stopped: Fair Work Commission blocks union
action. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/25/sydney-train-strike-stopped-fair-
work-blocks-union-action [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
NSW Government. 2018. NSW Government - NSW Government Departments & Services.
[online] Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Saha, B., Sen, K. and Maiti, D., 2013. Trade openness, labour institutions and flexibilisation:
Theory and evidence from India. Labour Economics, 24, pp.180-195.
Stevis, D. and Felli, R., 2015. Global labour unions and just transition to a green
economy. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 15(1),
pp.29-43.
Unions NSW. 2018. Unions NSW. [online] Available at: http://www.unionsnsw.org.au/
[Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].
Waterman, P. ed., 2016. Labour worldwide in the era of globalization: Alternative union
models in the new world order. Springer.

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Yates, C.A. and Fairbrother, P., 2013. Unions in crisis, unions in renewal?. In Trade Unions
in Renewal (pp. 15-45). Routledge.