Quarter | Year ended | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September Quarter 2021 | December Quarter 2021 | December Quarter 2020 | December Quarter 2021 | ||
Number of disputes | |||||
Commenced in period (no.) | 39 | 37 | 71 | 128 | |
Total (no.) | 50 | 55 | 77 | 130 | |
Employees involved | |||||
Newly involved ('000) | 11.7 | 50.6 | 10.2 | 70.7 | |
Total ('000) | 13.3 | 57.2 | 11.4 | 71.1 | |
Working days lost ('000) | 18.5 | 68.5 | 33.5 | 116.6 |
Industrial Disputes, Australia
The number of disputes (strikes or lockouts), employees involved and working days lost; cause of dispute; duration; and the reason work resumed
Key statistics
In the December quarter 2021:
- 55 disputes occurred.
- 57,200 employees were involved and 68,500 working days lost.
- disputes occurred in 8 industries and in 8 states and territories.
During the year ended December 2021, there were 130 disputes and a total of 116,600 working days lost.
Overview
In the December quarter 2021, there were:
- 55 disputes, 5 more than from the previous quarter.
- 57,200 employees involved, an increase from 13,300 in the previous quarter.
- 68,500 working days lost, an increase from 18,500 in the previous quarter.
Year ended estimates:
- 130 disputes occurred, 53 more than in the previous year.
116,600 working days were lost, 83,000 more than the previous year.
Number of disputes | Employees involved | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced in period | Total | Newly involved | Total | Working days lost | |
no. | no. | '000 | '000 | '000 | |
December Quarter 2019 | 34 | 38 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 12.4 |
March Quarter 2020 | 17 | 23 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
June Quarter 2020 | 8 | 11 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
September Quarter 2020 | 19 | 21 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 11.7 |
December Quarter 2020 | 27 | 32 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 16.5 |
March Quarter 2021 | 22 | 24 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 19.2 |
June Quarter 2021 | 30 | 36 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 10.4 |
September Quarter 2021 | 39 | 50 | 11.7 | 13.3 | 18.5 |
December Quarter 2021 | 37 | 55 | 50.6 | 57.2 | 68.5 |
Long-term trends
The level of industrial disputation over recent years is considerably lower than in the 1980's and prior decades.
Industry
In the December quarter, disputes occurred in eight industries. More than six in ten (64%) working days lost were in the Education and training; Health care and social assistance industry.
September Quarter 2021 | December Quarter 2021 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | - | - | 1.2 | 29.3 | |
Other mining | - | - | - | 0.2 | |
Manufacturing | |||||
Metal product etc (a) | 1.8 | 5.1 | 2.5 | 8.0 | |
Other manufacturing | 1.3 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 8.4 | |
Construction | 3.3 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 1.2 | |
Transport, postal and warehousing | 8.7 | 15.8 | 11.4 | 19.8 | |
Education and training; Health care and social assistance | 0.1 | - | 44.0 | 15.5 | |
Other industries (a) | 3.2 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 0.6 | |
All industries | 18.5 | 1.6 | 68.5 | 5.7 |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
a. See Glossary - Industry - for details of industries included.
States and territories
Disputes occurred in eight states and territories in the December quarter, with more than three in four (76%) working days lost occurring in New South Wales.
September Quarter 2021 | December Quarter 2021 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Working days lost | Working days lost per thousand employees | Working days lost | Working days lost per thousand employees | ||
'000 | no. | '000 | no. | ||
NSW | 4.0 | 1.1 | 52.1 | 14.0 | |
Vic. | 3.1 | 1.0 | 7.8 | 2.5 | |
Qld | 4.0 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 1.6 | |
SA | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | |
WA | 4.7 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 1.8 | |
Tas. | 1.4 | 6.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | |
NT | 0.1 | 0.4 | - | - | |
ACT | - | - | 0.3 | 1.5 | |
Australia | 18.5 | 1.6 | 68.5 | 5.7 |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Cause of dispute
Most industrial disputes are Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related. Over the past 10 years, disputes over employment conditions have generally been the most prevalent.
EB related issues were the cause of 78% of disputes (25 of 32) which ended in the September quarter 2021.
June Quarter 2021 | September Quarter 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | ||
Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related | |||||||
Remuneration | 8 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | |
Employment conditions (EB) | 13 | 1.8 | 8.1 | 18 | 4.6 | 7.0 | |
Other EB related | 1 | - | 0.1 | - | - | - | |
Non-EB related | |||||||
Remuneration | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Employment conditions | - | - | - | 1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | |
Health and safety | 2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | |
Job security | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Managerial policy | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Union issues | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Other Non EB related | 1 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | |
Total | 25 | 3.8 | 11.2 | 32 | 7.2 | 9.6 | |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Working days lost
Working days lost is a measure of the length of a dispute, relative to the number of employees involved.
Of the 32 disputes which ended in the September quarter, 17 lasted for a day or less. These disputes had:
- 5900 total employees involved; and
- 4600 working days lost.
June Quarter 2021 | September Quarter 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | ||
Up to and including 1 day | 13 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 17 | 5.9 | 4.6 | |
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days | 4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |
Over 2 and less than 5 days | 3 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 6 | 0.9 | 2.5 | |
5 and less than 10 days | 2 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.3 | 2.3 | |
10 days and over | 3 | 0.2 | 3.5 | - | - | - | |
Total | 25 | 3.8 | 11.2 | 32 | 7.2 | 9.6 | |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Reason work resumed
The reason work resumed relates to the last day of action taken. Resumption of work can occur without resolution to the issues that triggered the dispute.
There was a pre-determined return to work for 75% of disputes (24 of 32) which ended in the September quarter 2021.
June Quarter 2021 | September Quarter 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | ||
Negotiation without intervention of a third party | 6 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | |
State legislation | 1 | np | np | - | - | - | |
Federal legislation | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Pre-determined return to work | 16 | 3.2 | 6.6 | 24 | 4.9 | 7.2 | |
Resumption without negotiation | 1 | np | np | 4 | 2.1 | 1.3 | |
Mediation | 1 | 0.1 | 1.4 | - | - | - | |
Other reasons | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Total | 25 | 3.8 | 11.2 | 32 | 7.2 | 9.6 |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
Data downloads
Changes to Excel file format
As foreshadowed in the September quarter 2021 release, Industrial Disputes data file spreadsheets are now released in .xlsx format. While this change will improve usability, it may also require changes to automated macros or similar programs that call on the previous .xls format. This change does not impact on previously released data.
Time Series Spreadsheets
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
Labour themes and navigation on the ABS website to change on 25 March 2022
As previously advised, the thematic groupings and navigation for labour statistics on the ABS website are being updated to better reflect the current range of available labour statistics, better align key labour market concepts with website themes and navigation, and improve discoverability. The new themes (and the statistical releases which will appear under each theme) can be viewed on our Beta website, at beta.abs.gov.au/statistics.html#labour.
The changes will be implemented on the ABS website on Friday 25 March 2022.
The new themes will be:
- Employment and unemployment
- Jobs
- Earnings and working conditions
- Labour Accounts
Industrial Disputes statistics will move from the 'Earnings and work hours' theme (abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-work-hours/) to the renamed 'Earnings and working conditions' theme (abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/).
The key changes (from the current 'Employment and unemployment' and 'Earnings and work hours' themes) include:
- addition of a 'Jobs' theme - to reflect the increasing range of jobs-related data ABS is releasing – including Weekly payroll jobs and wages and Jobs in Australia (currently in 'Earnings and work hours'), in addition to the longstanding statistics on Job vacancies and Job mobility (currently in 'Employment and unemployment').
- addition of a 'Labour Accounts' theme - for cross-cutting quarterly and annual labour account data on jobs, people, hours and payments (currently in 'Employment and unemployment').
- renaming the 'Earnings and work hours' theme to 'Earnings and working conditions' - to provide a clearer pathway the large range of information available on working conditions beyond wages (work arrangements, flexibility, workplace relations, etc) and reflect that key hours data are available from the 'Employment and unemployment' theme (from the monthly Labour Force Survey) and the Labour Account.
While these changes will result in a change to the placement of some statistical releases, and some URLs, there will be automatic redirects in place. These redirects will ensure that existing URLs and bookmarks will continue to work.
Inquiries
For inquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6321.0.55.001.