Industrial Disputes, Australia

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This publication contains the quarterly estimates of employees involved and working days lost from industrial disputes

Reference period

March 2020

Released

4/06/2020

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Main features

March key statistics

The Industrial Disputes release provides statistics monitoring the level of industrial disputation in Australia.

Quarterly estimates

22 disputes occurred, 16 fewer than the previous quarter.
4,000 employees were involved, a decrease from 8,800 in the previous quarter.
3,900 working days were lost, a decrease from 12,400 in the previous quarter.
More than six in ten (64%) working days lost were in the Transport, postal and warehousing industry.
More than five in ten (51%) working days lost were in Victoria.

Year ended estimates

129 disputes occurred, 48 less than in the previous year.
51,700 working days were lost, 52% less than the previous year.

		Quarter		Year ended
		December 2019	March 2020	March 2019	March 2020
Number of disputes
	Commenced in period (no.)	34	16	171	119
	Total (no.)	38	22	177	129
Employees involved
	Newly involved ('000)	8.3	2.9	61.4	46.6
	Total ('000)	8.8	4.0	61.7	48.3
Working days lost ('000)		12.4	3.9	107.4	51.7

Working days lost, Australia
	Working days lost
Mar-15	20.4
Jun-15	14.8
Sep-15	29.1
Dec-15	19.1
Mar-16	27.9
Jun-16	24.5
Sep-16	34.9
Dec-16	37.2
Mar-17	25.6
Jun-17	40.2
Sep-17	45.9
Dec-17	36.7
Mar-18	14.9
Jun-18	12.5
Sep-18	47.4
Dec-18	30.9
Mar-19	16.6
Jun-19	17.6
Sep-19	17.8
Dec-19	12.4
Mar-20	3.9

Working days lost, Australia

["","Working days lost"]

[["Mar-15","Jun-15","Sep-15","Dec-15","Mar-16","Jun-16","Sep-16","Dec-16","Mar-17","Jun-17","Sep-17","Dec-17","Mar-18","Jun-18","Sep-18","Dec-18","Mar-19","Jun-19","Sep-19","Dec-19","Mar-20"],[[20.399999999999999],[14.800000000000001],[29.100000000000001],[19.100000000000001],[27.899999999999999],[24.5],[34.899999999999999],[37.200000000000003],[25.600000000000001],[40.200000000000003],[45.899999999999999],[36.700000000000003],[14.9],[12.5],[47.399999999999999],[30.899999999999999],[16.600000000000001],[17.600000000000001],[17.800000000000001],[12.4],[3.8999999999999999]]]

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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
March Quarter 2018	19	24	3.8	4.0	14.9
June Quarter 2018	42	48	14.4	14.6	12.5
September Quarter 2018	44	51	13.6	13.8	47.4
December Quarter 2018	53	62	25.6	28.8	30.9
March Quarter 2019	32	44	7.8	9.3	16.6
June Quarter 2019	34	44	18.8	20.2	17.6
September Quarter 2019	35	43	16.8	17.5	17.8
December Quarter 2019	34	38	8.3	8.8	12.4
March Quarter 2020	16	22	2.9	4.0	3.9

2 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry

		December Quarter 2019		March Quarter 2020
		Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
		'000	no.	'000	no.
Mining
	Coal mining	np	np	-	-
	Other mining	-	0.1	-	-
Manufacturing
	Metal product etc(a)	0.8	2.5	0.1	0.3
	Other manufacturing	2.7	5.0	0.9	1.7
Construction		1.2	1.3	0.2	0.2
Transport, postal and warehousing		np	np	2.5	4.3
Education and training; Health care and social assistance		0.5	0.2	0.1	-
Other industries(a)		0.7	0.1	0.1	-
All industries		12.4	1.1	3.9	0.3

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
a. See Glossary - Industry - for details of industries included.

3 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories

	December Quarter 2019		March Quarter 2020
	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
	'000	no.	'000	no.
New South Wales	np	np	1.0	0.3
Victoria	3.6	1.1	2.0	0.6
Queensland	2.1	0.9	np	np
South Australia	0.1	0.1	-	-
Western Australia	0.1	0.1	np	np
Tasmania	np	np	-	-
Northern Territory	np	np	-	-
Australian Capital Territory	np	np	-	-
Australia	12.4	1.1	3.9	0.3

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

4 Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter

		September Quarter 2019			December Quarter 2019
		Total Number of Disputes	Total Employees Involved	Working days Lost	Total Number of Disputes	Total Employees Involved	Working days Lost
		no.	'000	'000	no.	'000	'000
			CAUSE OF DISPUTE
Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related
	Remuneration	10	0.5	1.2	8	1.2	4.2
	Employment conditions (EB)	17	12.8	11.3	15	5.3	9.5
	Other EB related	2	-	0.9	2	np	np
Non-EB related
	Remuneration	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Employment conditions	1	0.5	0.1	-	-	-
	Health and safety	7	1.9	1.7	4	0.5	0.4
	Job security	-	-	-	1	np	np
	Managerial policy	1	-	-	-	-	-
	Union issues	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Other Non EB related	1	1.5	1.1	3	0.9	0.5
Total		39	17.2	16.3	33	8.0	14.6
			WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED
Up to and including 1 day		22	14.1	8.7	22	6.8	2.5
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days		7	2.4	4.2	1	np	np
Over 2 and less than 5 days		5	0.6	1.5	3	0.4	1.0
5 and less than 10 days		2	0.1	0.6	2	np	np
10 days and over		3	-	1.3	5	0.6	10.4
Total		39	17.2	16.3	33	8.0	14.6
			REASON WORK RESUMED
Negotiation without intervention of a third party		5	0.3	1.3	-	-	-
State legislation		1	-	-	2	0.1	0.1
Federal legislation		-	-	-	1	-	0.2
Pre-determined return to work		29	15.6	13.4	27	7.5	13.9
Resumption without negotiation		1	np	np	2	0.4	0.4
Mediation		3	np	np	1	0.1	-
Other reasons		-	-	-	-	-	-
Total		39	17.2	16.3	33	8.0	14.6

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

Inquiries

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

Data downloads

Table 1: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period

Data files

Download xls [66.5 KB]

Table 2a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, industry

Data files

Download xls [80 KB]

Table 2b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, industry

Data files

Download xls [77.5 KB]

Table 3a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, states and territories

Data files

Download xls [126.5 KB]

Table 3b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, states and territories

Data files

Download xls [115.5 KB]

Table 4a: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, cause of dispute

Data files

Download xls [301 KB]

Table 4b: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, working days lost per employee involved

Data files

Download xls [124 KB]

Table 4c: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, reason work resumed

Data files

Download xls [227 KB]

Methodology

Industrial Disputes, Australia methodology, March 2020

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APA

Citation

Industrial Disputes, Australia

APA

Citation

Main features

March key statistics

Quarterly estimates

Year ended estimates

Tables

1 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter

2 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry

3 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories

4 Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter

Inquiries

Data downloads

Table 1: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period

Table 2a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, industry

Table 2b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, industry

Table 3a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, states and territories

Table 3b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, states and territories

Table 4a: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, cause of dispute

Table 4b: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, working days lost per employee involved

Table 4c: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, reason work resumed

Methodology

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