South Australia: caution and consistency
- 2000
- p.84-92
- Dec
During the 1990s public service industrial relations in South Australia have followed the state's long-standing practice of being moderate and careful. From 1993 onwards, processes of corporatisation and privatisation that had commenced under the Bannon Labor government were continued and extended under the new Liberal government, in part as a response to financial pressures arising from the State Bank collapse, and in part as a reflection of the same trends that were widespread elsewhere. Where possible the government avoided direct confrontation with unions. There were various contests where the parties explored options in the changing environment, but the most prominent trend was that government policies of financial restraint and ousourcing tended to reduce most unions' bargaining power. Those policies were initially conjoined with agency-specific enterprise bargaining, but the resulting variations in outcomes finally led to a Wages Parity Agreement to restore consistency. - Reproduced
Labour relations - South Australia Labour relations