Towards Tripartism: Industrial Relations in the Steel Industry 1978 to 1987

From 1982 union responses to the rapid downturn of the Australian steel industry focused on industrial action, a sequence of redundancy cases, and a public inquiry, until the Hawke government was elected in 1983 and union calls for an integrated tripartite approach were heeded. Subsequently, in the first half of the five-year tripartite Steel Industry Plan, industrial relations at BHP's Port Kembla steel works were notable for a marked decline in strike levels and generally improved industrial relations. These were aided by the Steel Industry Authority, which worked to facilitate relations previously characterized by confrontationism, mutual suspicion and ready recourse to the New South Wales Industrial Commission. The impact of the Steel Industry Plan is, however, diffused by other phenomena, such as changes in BHP management style and the effect of heavy job losses on the dependent steel regions. Nevertheless, despite some evidence of a return to higher strike levels in 1985-87, the plan has offered an integrated and positive approach to the industry's problems and enabled improved industrial relations at plant level.