AIRC is short for the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and it’s the central independent institution for handling workplace disputes in Australia. Its tribunal-based settling means of conciliation and arbitration have greatly shaped the relationship between labor and management parties in Australia.

AIRC是澳大利亞勞資關系委員會的簡稱，它處理工作場所糾紛的中央獨立機構來在澳洲。以調解和仲裁的方式，極大地改善勞資雙方在澳大利亞的關系。
 

It was Originally the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, created in 1904 under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904. Its main function was to settle industrial disputes and therefore new awards were made with the arbitration results. In 2006, with the implement of the Work Choice laws, the functions o the AIRC has been adjusted. Throughout the years from 1904 to 2006, AIRC made various awards which protect employee’s rights and improved employment conditions by setting minimum wages and shortening working hours, and the awards provide similar standards for all workers in the entire industry which is set out in a specific award and employment conditions for the majority of Australian employees were heavily dependent on the awards which had little connection with the workplace or enterprises. Most of the awards set minimum wages in different industries, during the negotiation of trade unions acting on behalf of employees or employees acting for them and the employers, they could strive for higher salaries and improved working conditions based on the issued awards. With the implement of the Industrial Relations Act 1988, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission acquired the power to certify the enterprise bargaining agreements finally achieved by both parties. The AIRC also registered trade unions and dealt with disputes among different unions. Besides, this Commission also handles unfair dismissal and unlawful termination cases, with the implementation of Work Choices effected at the end of 2005, the emphasis is shifted on mediation and conciliation of those kinds of cases. Overall, it plays a key, central role in adjusting the industrial relations in Australia (Helen Forbes-Mewett, Gerard Griffin and Don Mckenzie, 2002).

 

Unlike most western market economic countries, enterprise bargaining and enterprise bargaining agreements play major role in adjusting working relationships between labor and management, however, in Australia, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission is crucial, especially its compulsory arbitrations and the mechanism of awards setting benchmark working conditions are quite uncommon practice in other parts of the world. Since the late 1980s, dramatic changes have taken place in the structures of the working relations arrangements in Australia, which are proved to be beneficial for workplace productivity. In 1991, the AIRC had to agree to the requests of trade unions, employers and government to introduce the system of enterprise bargaining. The Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993 reconfirmed this bargaining system and put it above the traditional conciliation and arbitration system. The legislation of Workplace Relations Act 1996 significantly reduced the power and role of the AIRC. Under this act, the Commission can only make awards in respect of 20 categories, such as pay, hours of work, types of employment and etc. Awards beyond these 20 categories ceased to have effect from June 30, 1998. Arbitrated settlements are gradually being replaced by negotiated enterprise bargaining agreements for the determinations of wages and conditions; individually negotiated agreements are also encouraged to supplement awards. The two main parties are encouraged to negotiate and reach agreements or resolve any differences without appealing to the AIRC (Mark Wooden, 2000). As a fact, the number of dispute applications to the AIRC has greatly decreased ever since the implement of 1996 legislation. In addition, the AIRC has very limited power on intervening in disputes which occur after the negotiation and reach of agreements.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Though with the legislation reform the power and role of the AIRC are greatly limited, it is still an effective mechanism to resolve industrial disputes and continues to keep its flexibility and resilience in its conciliation and arbitration system.

 

Work intensification

 

Management prerogative

Enterprise bargaining 

Enterprise bargaining is the negotiation or bargaining between the labor, either by trade unions acting on behalf of employees or employees acting for themselves, and management, the employers. The negotiation focuses on wage and working conditions of the employment. While the employers spare no effort to decrease costs, increase profits and value of the company and they prefer cheaper and more compliant labor, the employees fight for higher salary and better working conditions. Enterprise bargaining is really a battle between both parties, searching for a balance among the interests and achieving mutual benefits. Enterprise bargaining benefits the employees, as it gives them a say and provides higher pay, bonuses and additional leaves than the awards do; and it also benefits the management, because if the inner voices of the employees can’t find a way to the employers, they cannot expect good employee commitment and therefore decrease productivity. And once the enterprise bargaining agreements are approved by a valid majority of staff and certified by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, they are legally binding on both parties.

 

Enterprise Bargaining was first introduced to Australia via the legislation Prices and Incomes Accord 1991 and it dramatically changed the centralized employment relationships in Australia. Unlike the awards, which protect employee’s rights and improved employment conditions by setting minimum wages and shortening working hours, enterprise bargaining agreements focus more on the workplace and the enterprise. Enterprise bargaining agreements set out the wages and working conditions of employment engaged in a particular workplace and can include details tailored to suit each individual enterprise (W.A. Howard, 1977). It is believed to be a great process, as the enterprise bargaining could stimulate greater productivity, improve the living standards of the workers’ and achieve greater labor market flexibility. Enterprise bargaining grew significantly in the early 1990s and many workers adopted this means as an effective way to increase wages. In practice, enterprise bargaining agreements together with awards are the basic mechanism for setting wages and working conditions in Australia.

 

The Accords

Since the late 1980s, there has been a trend towards decentralization of wage determination in Australia, which has been driven by the policies agreed to by the federal Labor government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The agreements reached between the ALP and the ACTU, known as the Accords, have set the framework within which this decentralization has taken placed, reflecting the desire to manage and coordinate the process of decentralization of wage determination and bargaining (see Lansbury, 1985).#p#分頁標題#e#

 

A type of consensual-based incomes policy, the Accord, at least in its earliest guises, imposed a highly centralized system of wage determination based on wage indexation, and in which unions guaranteed they would not seek additional wage claims outside the system, thus effectively removing wages as a source of disputation.

 

 

Helen Forbes-Mewett, Gerard Griffin and Don Mckenzie (2002) The Australian Industrial Relations Commission: Adapting or Dying? Working Paper, National Key Centre in Industrial Relations, Monash University.

 

Mark Wooden (2000) The Transformation of Australian Industrial Relations, The federation Press.

 

W.A. Howard (1977) Australian Trade Unions in the Context of Union Theory, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 19, No. 3, 255-273.

 

Malcolm Rimmer (2000) Enterprise Bargaining, Wage Norms and Productivity, Bowater School of Management and Marketing, Deakin University.