Evaluating Social Partnership in the Australian Context

Keeping It Quiet? The Micro-Politics of Employee Voice in Company Strategic Decision-Making

“…Macneil and colleagues' (2011) analysis of significant government programmes to encourage workplace partnerships in Australia and New Zealand reports successful interventions as well as persistent problems in their consolidation. They, and others (Delaney and Haworth, 2016;McAndrew, Edgar, Geare and Ballard, 2010;Xu et al 2016), note wider political economy conditions which pressure and enable employers to enact managerial prerogative and strategic flexibilities which undermine the ethos of partnership. Mitchell et al (2011) report that company directors in Australia often speak positively about partnerships with employees, but there is little evidence of substantive collaborative practice in highest level decision-making.…”

“…Brewster et al (2015) report that of their sample of Australian and New Zealand firms, 41% and 27%, respectively, provide works councils and/or JCCs, both lower percentages than those recognising collective bargaining at 61% and 62%, respectively. Others (Boxall et al, 2007; Forsyth et al, 2008; Peetz and Frost, 2007; Teicher et al, 2007; Xu et al, 2016) propose, conversely, that a majority of workplaces practise forms of joint consultation arrangements, usually but not always known as joint consultation committees. These discrepancies urge further investigation into these practices.…”

“…JCCs principally serve to facilitate both productivity bargains and workers’ improved satisfaction gained through voice expression. Researchers observe that, in general, joint consultation flourishes where multiple channels, including trade unions, of voice at workplace and organisation levels are available and effective (Boxall et al, 2007; Sablok et al, 2013; Teicher et al, 2007; Xu et al, 2016). Similarly, trade unions play a key role in the establishment and practical enactment of labour–management partnerships.…”

“…Similarly, trade unions play a key role in the establishment and practical enactment of labour–management partnerships. Partnerships, in both countries, have utilised elements of productivity bargaining and workplace modernisation prominent in the US partnership form while at the same time exhibiting features of the social partnership concept advocated in many European countries (Casey and Delaney, 2019; Huzzard et al, 2004; Macneil et al, 2011; Townsend et al, 2013; Xu et al, 2016) in which unions are recognised as contributing to the social regulation of labour markets.…”