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JUNE QUARTER 2004 KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES

• For the June quarter 2004, there were 189 disputes, 2 more than in the March quarter 2004.
• The number of employees involved in industrial disputes increased from 45,200 in the March quarter 2004 to 64,700 in the June quarter 2004.
• There were 152,900 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the June quarter 2004, an increase of 72,500 from the March quarter 2004.
• The Education and Health and community services industries accounted for 98,500 (64%) of the total number of working days lost in the June quarter 2004. These industries also accounted for the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (61.1) for the quarter.
• In the June quarter 2004, NSW accounted for 113,300 (74%) of working days lost. NSW also had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (40.8) for the quarter.

• During the year ended June 2004, there were 716 disputes, 13 more than in the year ended June 2003.
• During the year ended June 2004, there were 550,900 working days lost, 306,200 more than in the year ended June 2003.

Working days lost

		Quarter		Year ended
		March Quarter 2004	June Quarter 2004	June 2003	June 2004
Number of disputes
	Commenced in period (no.)	177	174	681	703
	Total (no.)	187	189	703	716
Employees involved
	Newly involved ('000)	r44.6	62.9	128.6	326.7
	Total ('000)	r45.2	64.7	133.9	330.2
Working days lost ('000)		r80.4	152.9	244.7	550.9
r revised

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 2002	188	205	39.9	41.4	63.4
September Quarter 2002	218	240	35.6	40.9	53.4
December Quarter 2002	181	198	37.7	41.1	69.6
March Quarter 2003	153	162	29.2	30.1	66.3
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	r44.6	r45.2	r80.4
June Quarter 2004	174	189	62.9	64.7	152.9
r revised

2. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, Industry
		March Quarter 2004		June Quarter 2004
		Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
		'000		'000
Mining
	Coal mining	0.7	31.5	0.3	16.5
	Other	5.7	71.3	0.4	5.2
Manufacturing
	Metal product; Machinery and equipment	4.8	13.0	6.6	18.0
	Other	7.0	11.2	5.1	7.8
Construction		r26.8	r51.2	25.2	46.1
Transport and storage; Communication services		3.9	7.4	11.6	21.4
Education; Health and community services		24.5	15.8	98.5	61.1
Other industries		7.0	1.5	5.2	1.1
All industries		r80.4	r9.7	152.9	18.2
r revised

3. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, States and territories
	March Quarter 2004		June Quarter 2004
	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
	'000		'000
New South Wales	r12.8	4.6	113.3	40.8
Victoria	r41.8	r19.9	17.3	8.2
Queensland	6.0	3.8	4.9	3.0
South Australia	4.9	8.1	1.5	2.4
Western Australia	r14.7	r17.7	14.3	16.9
Tasmania	0.3	1.7	0.1	0.4
Northern Territory	-	-	1.1	11.9
Australian Capital Territory	-	-	0.4	2.2
Australia	r80.4	r9.7	152.9	18.2
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
r revised

4. Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter (a)
		December Quarter 2003			March Quarter 2004
		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	23	16.4	34.3	r10	r8.1	r15.6
	Employment conditions (EB)	8	9.1	44.3	r9	r9.2	r56.5
	Other EB related	12	2.3	5.2	r6	r0.5	r1.0
Non-EB related
	Remuneration	10	1.5	2.5	r12	1.9	r1.6
	Employment conditions	7	1.6	0.9	6	0.6	0.6
	Health and safety	46	9.2	11.9	r60	r10.5	r14.8
	Job security	10	1.7	15.6	13	2.7	3.9
	Managerial policy	33	6.6	15.8	35	r6.2	r12.2
	Union issues	10	1.4	0.9	r14	r2.6	r3.5
	Non EB related	18	69.3	54.8	7	4.7	5.5
Total		177	119.2	186.4	r172	r46.8	r115.0
WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED
Up to and including 1 day		90	70.2	48.2	r99	r20.6	r14.4
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days		43	32.4	36.6	r37	r10.8	r14.2
Over 2 and less than 5 days		25	13.6	58.6	r27	r5.7	r16.0
5 and less than 10 days		11	2.4	15.7	np	9.5	61.4
10 days and over		8	0.6	27.3	np	r0.2	r9.0
Total		177	119.2	186.4	r172	r46.8	r115.0
REASON WORK RESUMED
Negotiation without intervention of a third party		31	3.8	17.6	r20	r11.9	r57.9
State legislation		9	0.5	1.5	r19	r3.1	r3.9
Federal legislation		16	13.3	22.6	r25	4.6	r8.4
Pre-determined return to work		35	31.6	34.0	r25	r14.5	r22.3
Resumption without negotiation		72	67.5	89.8	r69	r11.2	r15.1
Mediation		8	1.9	3.6	14	1.5	7.4
Other reasons		6	0.6	17.2	-	-	-
Total		177	119.2	186.4	r172	r46.8	r115.0
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
r revised
(a) See Explanatory Notes, paragraph 12

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 or Peta Sheehan on Perth (08) 9360 5159. As well as the statistics included in this publication, other data from the Industrial Disputes collection are available either as time series spreadsheets (see links below) or, on request, as customised reports. If you wish to discuss individual requests please telephone Peta Sheehan.