Work Versus Life: Union Strategies Reconsidered

Abstract

This article presents the findings of two major research projects that investigated the ‘work/life’ dilemmas facing teachers and finance sector workers in Australia. Both studies were based on large-scale survey data, supplemented by focus-group discussions. Although the specific experiences of teachers and finance sector workers differ according to the particular circumstances of each industry, important common themes emerge. Despite the existence of a wide range of flexible working provisions and policies in both industries, balancing work and family responsibilities is becoming more difficult. In both industries the central problems relate to work intensification and growing pressure to work long hours. These pressures have eroded the benefits of even those forms of work specifically designed to ease the work/life dilemma, such as permanent part-time work. Potential union policy responses are canvassed, including the need for legislative action to provide citizenship rights for parents, and the need for new approaches to enterprise bargaining that, until now, has left employees ignorant of, or unable to utilise, family-friendly provisions.