6321.0.55.001 - Industrial Disputes, Australia, Jun 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/09/2005   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

PLEASE NOTE: These statistics include the 'National Week of Action' campaign which took place in the week of 27 June to 1 July. See ACTU 'NATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION' CAMPAIGN for important information on the treatment of this dispute in ABS industrial disputes statistics.


JUNE KEY FIGURES

Quarter
Year ended
March 2005
June 2005
June 2004
June 2005

Number of disputes
Commenced in period (no.)
r109
123
704
562
Total (no.)
r119
136
717
567
Employees involved
Newly involved ('000)
r20.3
49.3
327.1
155.0
Total ('000)
r20.8
52.6
330.6
155.3
Working days lost ('000)
r45.1
51.7
552.2
241.9

r revised

Working days lost
Graph: Working days lost



JUNE KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES
  • For the June quarter 2005, there were 136 disputes, 17 more than in the March quarter 2005.
  • The number of employees involved in industrial disputes in the June quarter 2005 was 52,600, an increase from 20,800 in the March quarter 2005.
  • There were 51,700 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the June quarter 2005, an increase from 45,100 in the March quarter 2005.
  • The Construction industry accounted for 19,400 (38%) of the total number of working days lost in the June quarter 2005. The Coal mining industry had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (61.6) for the quarter.
  • In the June quarter 2005, Victoria accounted for 25,800 (50%) of working days lost. The Northern Territory had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (13.8) for the quarter.


YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES
  • During the year ended June 2005, there were 567 disputes, 150 less than in the year ended June 2004.
  • During the year ended June 2005, there were 241,900 working days lost compared with 552,200 in the year ended June 2004.


NOTES

INTRODUCTION

This publication presents quarterly statistics on industrial disputes in Australia, obtained from the Industrial Disputes collection.

REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to the quarterly series as a result of disputes being identified after the release of the previous issue and as a result of correcting errors in previously reported data.



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.



TABLES


1. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter

Number of disputes
Employees involved
Commenced in period
Total
Newly involved
Total
Working days lost
no.
no.
'000
'000
'000

June Quarter 2003
129
141
26.2
29.7
55.5
September Quarter 2003
180
193
104.4
107.9
166.2
December Quarter 2003
172
187
114.9
116.3
151.5
March Quarter 2004
177
187
44.6
45.2
80.4
June Quarter 2004
175
190
63.2
65.0
154.2
September Quarter 2004
188
194
56.0
56.2
93.3
December Quarter 2004
142
149
29.6
33.6
51.9
March Quarter 2005
r109
r119
r20.3
r20.8
r45.1
June Quarter 2005
123
136
49.3
52.6
51.7

r revised

2. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, Industry

March Quarter 2005
June Quarter 2005
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000

Mining
Coal mining
8.7
367.2
1.7
61.6
Other
1.5
17.1
0.5
5.5
Manufacturing
Metal product; Machinery and equipment
2.4
7.1
13.1
38.4
Other
2.0
2.9
6.8
10.4
Construction
r25.7
r43.5
19.4
32.8
Transport and storage; Communication services
r1.1
r1.9
1.9
3.3
Education; Health and community services
2.3
1.5
5.3
3.3
Other industries
r1.5
r0.3
3.1
0.6
All industries
r45.1
r5.3
51.7
5.9

r revised

3. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, States and territories

March Quarter 2005
June Quarter 2005
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000

New South Wales
r3.4
r1.2
6.9
2.5
Victoria
7.0
3.2
25.8
11.6
Queensland
r11.8
r7.1
7.1
4.2
South Australia
1.3
2.1
0.9
1.3
Western Australia
21.3
24.4
9.0
10.2
Tasmania
0.3
1.4
0.8
4.1
Northern Territory
-
0.5
1.2
13.8
Australian Capital Territory
-
-
-
0.1
Australia
r45.1
r5.3
51.7
5.9

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
r revised

4. Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter(a)

December Quarter 2004
March Quarter 2005
Number of disputes
Employees involved
Working days lost
Number of disputes
Employees involved
Working days lost
no.
'000
'000
no.
'000
'000

CAUSE OF DISPUTE

Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related
Remuneration
15
4.9
16.0
13
2.2
14.9
Employment conditions (EB)
4
0.3
0.4
3
0.1
4.0
Other EB related
5
1.3
1.2
4
0.4
1.0
Non-EB related
Remuneration
10
1.6
5.1
8
3.2
16.0
Employment conditions
5
0.6
0.5
np
0.5
1.7
Health and safety
44
7.9
10.9
27
3.5
4.9
Job security
7
0.5
0.2
8
1.6
1.0
Managerial policy
27
3.8
3.1
23
3.9
4.5
Union issues
18
8.5
6.9
15
2.6
2.1
Other non-EB related
4
0.2
0.2
np
0.9
1.2
Total
139
29.7
44.5
106
18.9
51.3

WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED

Up to and including 1 day
90
19.4
11.3
56
9.8
6.8
Over 1 day and up to and including 2 days
26
5.5
8.2
21
2.8
4.0
Over 2 and less than 5 days
14
2.9
9.6
17
2.8
9.4
5 and less than 10 days
5
1.2
6.2
6
2.8
16.5
10 days and over
4
0.7
9.3
6
0.7
14.5
Total
139
29.7
44.5
106
18.9
51.3

REASON WORK RESUMED

Negotiation without intervention of a third party
15
4.1
12.7
25
3.4
9.4
State legislation
12
0.9
1.5
np
1.0
1.9
Federal legislation
20
2.1
4.5
14
5.4
21.8
Pre-determined return to work
18
4.0
3.7
10
1.8
4.7
Resumption without negotiation
60
16.1
12.1
39
5.8
6.4
Mediation
14
2.6
10.1
10
1.4
6.5
Other reasons
-
-
-
np
0.1
0.6
Total
139
29.7
44.5
106
18.9
51.3

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See Explanatory Notes, paragraph 12