6321.0.55.001 - Industrial Disputes, Australia, Mar 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/06/2006   
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MARCH KEY FIGURES

Quarter
Year ended
December 2005
March 2006
March 2005
March 2006
Number of disputes
Commenced in period (no.)
84
98
614
451
Total (no.)
96
100
628
464
Employees involved
Newly involved ('000)
102.1
18.5
168.9
238.8
Total ('000)
102.6
18.6
170.7
242.0
Working days lost ('000)
81.0
29.6
344.4
212.8

Working days lost
Graph: Working days lost



MARCH KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES
  • For the March quarter 2006, there were 100 disputes, 4 more than in the December quarter 2005.
  • The number of employees involved in industrial disputes in the March quarter 2006 was 18,600, a decrease from 102,600 in the December quarter 2005.
  • There were 29,600 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the March quarter 2006, a decrease from 81,000 in the December quarter 2005.
  • The Metal product and Machinery and equipment manufacturing industries accounted for 11,000 (37%) of the total number of working days lost in the March quarter 2006. The Metal product and Machinery and equipment manufacturing industries also had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (29.8) for the quarter.
  • In the March quarter 2006, Victoria accounted for 13,400 (45%) of working days lost. The Australian Capital Territory had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (7.1) for the quarter, followed closely by Victoria (6.0).


YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES
  • During the year ended March 2006, there were 464 disputes, 164 less than in the year ended March 2005.
  • During the year ended March 2006, there were 212,800 working days lost compared with 344,400 in the year ended March 2005.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER) Release Date
June 2006 7 September 2006
September 2006 7 December 2006



REVISIONS

There are no revisions to data in this issue.



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
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
109
119
20.3
20.8
45.1
June Quarter 2005
125
138
50.1
53.4
52.8
September Quarter 2005
144
150
68.1
68.4
49.3
December Quarter 2005
84
96
102.1
102.6
81.0
March Quarter 2006
98
100
18.5
18.6
29.6
2. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, Industry
December Quarter 2005
March Quarter 2006
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000
Mining
Coal mining
1.1
39.5
0.1
3.9
Other
0.1
0.5
0.1
0.7
Manufacturing
Metal product; Machinery and equipment
15.0
38.9
11.0
29.8
Other
6.4
10.3
4.1
6.7
Construction
23.0
40.1
3.5
5.7
Transport and storage; Communication services
5.7
10.4
7.1
12.4
Education; Health and community services
25.5
15.4
1.3
0.8
Other industries
4.2
0.9
2.4
0.5
All industries
81.0
9.3
29.6
3.4
3. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, States and territories
December Quarter 2005
March Quarter 2006
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000
New South Wales
24.7
8.7
5.2
1.8
Victoria
33.8
15.3
13.4
6.0
Queensland
7.9
4.6
6.0
3.5
South Australia
1.3
2.0
1.0
1.5
Western Australia
12.0
13.4
2.3
2.5
Tasmania
0.1
0.6
0.6
3.4
Northern Territory
1.1
12.4
-
0.3
Australian Capital Territory
-
0.2
1.2
7.1
Australia
81.0
9.3
29.6
3.4
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

4. Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter(a)
September Quarter 2005
December 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
26
11.6
9.5
27
11.7
11.7
Employment conditions (EB)
np
-
-
np
0.8
5.9
Other EB related
np
0.2
0.4
4
0.3
0.7
Non-EB related
Remuneration
3
0.1
0.1
3
0.6
0.2
Employment conditions
13
1.4
2.4
np
0.4
0.2
Health and safety
34
7.4
9.4
19
3.1
7.1
Job security
9
1.0
1.7
4
0.6
0.6
Managerial policy
39
3.9
5.0
26
3.0
2.8
Union issues
10
1.2
1.0
3
0.2
0.2
Other non-EB related
np
62.3
31.1
4
83.1
53.4
Total
138
89.1
60.7
94
103.8
82.8
WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED
Up to and including 1 day
75
80.4
41.6
52
97.1
60.7
Over 1 day and up to and including 2 days
36
5.1
8.1
27
4.4
7.0
Over 2 and less than 5 days
22
3.5
9.6
10
1.6
6.2
5 and less than 10 days
np
0.1
1.0
np
0.5
3.5
10 days and over
np
-
0.3
np
0.2
5.4
Total
138
89.1
60.7
94
103.8
82.8
REASON WORK RESUMED
Negotiation without intervention of a third party
35
5.0
5.9
18
3.2
4.3
State legislation
10
1.3
2.7
9
0.9
1.2
Federal legislation
16
3.3
7.3
15
2.0
10.1
Pre-determined return to work
25
3.0
3.4
18
5.2
5.0
Resumption without negotiation
40
75.6
39.8
25
90.7
58.5
Mediation
9
0.7
1.5
np
1.7
3.7
Other reasons
3
0.2
0.2
np
0.2
0.1
Total
138
89.1
60.7
94
103.8
82.8
- 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