Changing Union-Management Relation at the Plant Level in Australian Metalworking

The period 1969-1976 has been a dramatic one in Australian industrial relations history. This paper focuses on the changing character of plant union- management relations in metalworking over these years with a view to explaining the more significant developments. Data collected from a study made in 1969 is compared to information gathered in 1976. This indicates that plant union-management relations now are receiving much more serious attention from managers, unions and government. Many of the deficiencies evident in 1969, however, have not been remedied and new problems have emerged.