6321.0.55.001 - Industrial Disputes, Australia, Mar 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/06/2005   
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MARCH QUARTER 2005 KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES

  • For the March quarter 2005, there were 116 disputes, 33 less than in the December quarter 2004.
  • The number of employees involved in industrial disputes in the March quarter 2005 was 20,000, a decrease from 33,600 in the December quarter 2004.
  • There were 44,400 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the March quarter 2005, a decrease from 51,900 in the December quarter 2004.
  • The Construction industry accounted for 25,600 (58%) of the total number of working days lost in the March quarter 2005. The Coal mining industry had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (367.2) for the quarter.
  • In the March quarter 2005, Western Australia accounted for 21,300 (48%) of working days lost. Western Australia also had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (24.4) for the quarter.


YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES
  • During the year ended March 2005, there were 625 disputes, 45 less than in the year ended March 2004.
  • During the year ended March 2005, there were 343,700 working days lost compared with 453,500 in the year ended March 2004.
Working days lost
Graph: Working days lost


MARCH QUARTER 2005 KEY FIGURES

Quarter
Year ended
December Quarter 2004
March Quarter 2005
March 2004
March 2005
Number of disputes
Commenced in period (no.)
r142
106
658
611
Total (no.)
r149
116
670
625
Employees involved
Newly involved ('000)
29.6
19.6
290.1
168.2
Total ('000)
33.6
20.0
293.6
170.0
Working days lost ('000)
51.9
44.4
453.5
343.7
r revised


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 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
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
r142
r149
29.6
33.6
51.9
March Quarter 2005
106
116
19.6
20.0
44.4
r revised

2. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, Industry
December Quarter 2004
March 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
0.2
11.0
8.7
367.2
Other
2.7
33.7
1.5
17.1
Manufacturing
Metal product; Machinery and equipment
4.5
13.2
2.4
7.1
Other
8.9
13.5
2.0
2.9
Construction
29.9
52.8
25.6
43.4
Transport and storage; Communication services
2.7
4.8
1.0
1.8
Education; Health and community services
1.9
1.2
2.3
1.5
Other industries
1.1
0.2
0.9
0.2
All industries
51.9
6.1
44.4
5.2
3. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, States and territories
December Quarter 2004
March 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
10.9
3.9
3.8
1.4
Victoria
18.8
8.7
7.0
3.2
Queensland
4.2
2.5
10.7
6.4
South Australia
0.7
1.1
1.3
2.1
Western Australia
17.1
20.1
21.3
24.4
Tasmania
0.1
0.4
0.3
1.4
Northern Territory
0.2
1.9
-
0.5
Australian Capital Territory
-
0.2
-
-
Australia
51.9
6.1
44.4
5.2
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

4. Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter(a)
September Quarter 2004
December 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
26
7.1
19.5
15
4.9
16.0
Employment conditions (EB)
5
11.1
12.0
4
0.3
0.4
Other EB related
11
5.0
7.9
5
1.3
1.2
Non-EB related
Remuneration
13
2.1
3.6
10
1.6
5.1
Employment conditions
6
0.7
1.2
5
0.6
0.5
Health and safety
76
16.3
16.8
44
7.9
10.9
Job security
5
6.8
23.7
7
0.5
0.2
Managerial policy
26
2.6
2.8
27
3.8
3.1
Union issues
14
3.3
4.8
18
8.5
6.9
Other non-EB related
5
5.3
3.3
4
0.2
0.2
Total
187
60.3
95.5
139
29.7
44.5
WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED
Up to and including 1 day
104
39.7
26.7
90
19.4
11.3
Over 1 day and up to and including 2 days
39
8.9
12.8
26
5.5
8.2
Over 2 and less than 5 days
33
10.4
36.6
14
2.9
9.6
5 and less than 10 days
7
1.1
7.3
5
1.2
6.2
10 days and over
4
0.3
12.1
4
0.7
9.3
Total
187
60.3
95.5
139
29.7
44.5
REASON WORK RESUMED
Negotiation without intervention of a third party
42
7.1
11.8
15
4.1
12.7
State legislation
16
1.8
1.9
12
0.9
1.5
Federal legislation
26
8.7
36.2
20
2.1
4.5
Pre-determined return to work
25
29.0
24.2
18
4.0
3.7
Resumption without negotiation
66
12.2
13.1
60
16.1
12.1
Mediation
np
1.0
2.0
14
2.6
10.1
Other reasons
np
0.4
6.3
-
-
-
Total
187
60.3
95.5
139
29.7
44.5
- 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


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 Gordon Wragg 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 Gordon Wragg.