Reforming and restructuring the Australian workplace: a study of the Williamstown Naval Dockyard 1983–1993

Abstract

As a consequence of the global economic crises of the 1970s, in Australia, micro-economic reform of the economy, and in particular the labour market, was seen as a key catalyst in providing a more competitive industrial base for the country. Underpinning this was a fundamental change in the conflictual industrial relations structure that had framed work patterns and practices since Federation. The Williamstown Naval Dockyard in Melbourne was the Australian Federal Government's premier dockyard. It had a long-standing reputation for poor productivity, inefficient work practices and industrial unrest and had been described as Australia's worst worksite. After several failed attempts to reform the dockyard, the Federal Government privatised this utility as a catalyst to reform the work culture. On 1 January 1988, the dockyard was transferred to the highly competitive private shipbuilding sector. As the first public utility sold by an Australian Federal Government and the first workplace to adopt micro-economic labour reforms, including enterprise bargaining, the dockyard provides an opportunity to examine the nature of workplace restructuring in the most radical time of change for labour and trade unions in Australia's history. The dockyard was seen at the time as at the vanguard of this change. This paper explores the reforms undertaken in the dockyard.

Keywords::

• industrial relations
• trade unions
• workplace reform
• micro-economic policies

Notes

^1. See Costa and Duffy, Labour, Prosperity and the Nineties; and Kelly, The End of Certainty. These writers provide an overview and critique of the micro-economic reforms taking place in Australia through the 1980s.

^2.Hagan, “The Australian Union Movement,” 78–99; and Costa and Easson, Australian Industry. Both provide an insight into the labour market reform agenda.

^3. See Anderson and Garnaut, The Political Economy of Manufacturing Protection, and Garnaut, The End of Protection, for an overview of Australian economic policy post-1945.

^4. See Glezer, Tariff Politics, Gruen and Grattan, Managing Government, Capling and Galligan, Beyond the Protective State, Costa and Easson, Australian Industry, and Bell, Australian Manufacturing and the State, for comprehensive critiques of Australian protectionist policies.

^5.Bridgen, The Australian Tariff.

^6.Deery, Plowman and Walsh, Industrial Relations. This book provides a succinct overview of the unique Australian industrial relations framework.

^7.Anderson and Garnaut, The Political Economy of Manufacturing Protection.

^8. For discussion on the relationship between wage determination and tariff protection see Quiggin, Great Expectations, and Deery and Plowman, Australian Industrial Relations.

^9. See Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Trade Union Statistics, Australia,” on trade union membership.

^10. Closed shop is where union membership is compulsory to obtain employment.

^11. See Bamber and Lansbury, International and Comparative Employment Relations, for an in-depth comparative analysis of Australian industrial relations vis-à-vis other advanced market economies.

^12. See Quiggin, Great Expectations.

^13. Comment by Macfarlane, Business Council of Australia Bulletin, 9.

^14. See Gruen and Grattan, Managing Government.

^15.Costa and Duffy, Labour, Prosperity and the Nineties, 44.

^16. Ibid., 73.

^17. See Sloan, “Wage Fixing Under Accord Mark VII,”, for discussion on wage fixing reform.

^18.Rimmer and Zappala, “Labour Market Flexibility and the Second Tier”; and MorrisThe Age of Workplace Reform in Australia.

^19. See Fox, Howard and Pittard, Industrial Relations in Australia, Creighton, Ford and Mitchell, Labour Law, and Dabscheck, Australian Industrial Relations in the 1980s, for an in-depth analysis of industrial relations reforms of the 1980s in Australia.

^20.Hancock, Report of Committee of Review, Australian Industrial Relations Law and Systems.

^21.ACTU/TDC, Australia Reconstructed.

^22.Emery, “Some Observations on Workplace Reform.”

^23.Burgess, “Productivity: A Worker Problem?”

^24.Evans, “Introduction.”

^25.Morris, The Age of Workplace Reform in Australia, 12.

^26.Forsyth, Microeconomic Reform in Australia.

^27.Mathews, Catching the Wave.

^28. For a detailed insight into the development of micro-economic reforms see Mansfield, Why Unions Have To Change; Karpin, Enterprising Nation; Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, Australia at Workplace; Lansbury and Michelson, Industrial Relations in Australia; Mathews, Catching the Wave; and Emery, “Some Observations on Workplace Reform.”

^29.Yin, Case Study Research, 80.

^30.Loftland and Loftland, Analyzing Social Settings.

^31. See Sullivan, “Williamstown Naval Dockyard,” for more detail.

^32.Boyle, “All Together Now to Save the Dockyard”; and Donohue, “Workers Slam Dockyard Management.”

^33.Costigan,Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters & Dockers Union.

^34. Cited in Pinwill, “Report Attacks Efficiency at Naval Dockyard.”

^35. The ACTU – Australian Council of Trade Unions – is the umbrella organisation for the Australian trade union movement.

^36.Irving, “The Williamstown Experience.”

^37.Earnshaw, “Australian Naval Shipbuilding.”

^38.Cummings, “Navy Threatened to Withdraw HMAS.”

^39. See Earnshaw, “Australian Naval Shipbuilding”; and Schauble, “Cuts Will Put As Many As 1200 Defence Jobs in Doubt.”

^40. Beazley cited in Schauble, “Cuts Will Put As Many As 1200 Defence Jobs in Doubt.”

^41.Schauble, “Cuts Will Put As Many As 1200 Defence Jobs in Doubt.”

^42.Earnshaw, “Australian Naval Shipbuilding.”

^43. See Irving “The Williamstown Experience,” and Earnshaw “Australian Naval Shipbuilding,” who highlight these points.

^44. See Greene, “Navy to Sell Dockyard”; and Earnshaw, “Australian Naval Shipbuilding.”

^45. Richardson cited in Caruna, “Williamstown Unions Fear for Jobs.”

^46. AMWU state secretary John Halfpenny cited in Davis, “300 Dock Jobs in Doubt at Williamstown.”

^47. See Humphries, “Naval Dockyard Sold in $100 Million Deal,” for details.

^48. See Parkinson, The Economics of Shipbuilding, and Kriegler, Working for the Company, on the nature of work patterns in the shipbuilding industry.

^49. See Boyle, “All Together Now to Save the Dockyard.”

^50. See Humphries “The Navy Gets on to a Fast Track for Frigates.”

^51. Awards and work classification are a basic legal documents setting out the terms and conditions of employment.

^52. Allowances are extra remuneration for working outside normal work terms and condition. Typically, these relate to occupational health and safety issues such as dangerous or poor environmental conditions. However, their scope is not limited to these areas and it is up to the parties to determine the range of issues.

^53. ANZAC is a joint naval shipbuilding venture of the Australian and New Zealand governments and at the time, the biggest engineering contract ever undertaken in Australia.

^54. Enterprise Bargaining Agreement – a legally binding agreement at the level of the enterprise and usually lasting three years before being renegotiated.

^55. A work-to-rule is an organised protest by trade unions. Typically this may involve carrying out management instructions to the letter and a strict observance of procedures such as safety. Undertaking these forms of protest is not technically in breach of the employment contract.

^56. See Davis “300 Dockyard Workers Face Agony of Change.”

^57. Managing Director Dr John White was a high-profile figure in the media advocating for the new workplace culture.

^58. Quoted in Molloy, “Government Asked to Prevent Dockyard Sackings.”

^59. The VTHC is the state representative body of unions in Victoria, performing a similar role of representing the views of unions at state level that the ACTU undertakes at a national level.

^60. John Halfpenny quoted in Davis “300 Dockyard Workers Face Agony of Change.”

^61. See Davis, “300 Dockyard Workers Face Agony of Change.”

^62. See , “Williamstown Faces Loss of $5b Navy Deal”; “Owners Threaten to Quit Embattled Dockyard.”

^63. From the late 1980s, the ACTU managed a rationalisation of the trade unions in Australia through a process of mergers and amalgamations. As part of this process, the trade unions representing the workforce at the dockyard have since restructured. The FIA is now part of the Automotive, Food, Metals and Engineering Union (AMU-FIME). The ETU is now part of the Communication, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing & Allied Services Union of Australia – Electrical division (CEPU); and the AMWU is part of the Australian Workers Union-Federation of Industrial, Manufacturing and Engineering Employees. The agreement is titles the AMEC Agreement 1988 (C No 30529 of 1988).

^64. The ACAC name change took place at the end of 1988.

^65. Cited in Humphries, “The Navy Gets on to a Fast Track for Frigates.”

^66. Cited in Humphries, “Williamstown Faces Loss of $5b Navy Deal.”

^67. See Humphries, “Dockyard Told to Shape Up or Risk Ship Deal.”

^68. See Humphries, “Hamburg Link Boosts Melbourne's Bid for $5b Frigate Contract.”

^69. From the in-house magazine – INSITE, “The Transfield Adventure,” 1.

^70. Cited in Humphries, “Hamburg Link Boosts Melbourne's Bid for $5b Frigate Contract.”

^71. Cited in Ryle, “Dockyard Celebrates ‘Beautiful’ Moment.”

^72. Cited in Young “Yard Is the Envy of the Country, Says Cain.”

^73. See Gill “Dockyard Swaps Strife for Output.”

^74. What was more remarkable about these figures was that industrial disputes often related to major state or nationwide disputes associated with the dockyard unions rather than on-site issues.

^75. See AMECON, Industrial Award, 71.

^76. Ibid.

^77. This was confirmed by the ANZAC Project Manager.

^78. See Teicher et al., “Employee Voice in Australia,” for more analysis of contemporary Australian industrial relations.

^79. See Lucas, “Jobs Sunk as BAE Shipyard Cries Poor.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Holland

Dr Peter Holland is an associate professor in human resource management and employee relations at Monash University. He has been the Director of the Human Resource Management Program and is the Deputy Head of the Human Resource and Employee Relations Discipline in the Department of Management and visiting associate professor at the University of Tasmania. His current research interests include employee voice, new patterns of work and monitoring and surveillance in the workplace. He has authored/co-authored 10 books and more than 70 journal articles, monographs and book chapters on a variety of human resource management and employee relations issues.