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Administered Flexibility: Restructuring the Metal Industry Award

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

David Plowman*
Affiliation:
Industrial Relations Research Centre, University of New South Wales
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Abstract

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In recent years National Wage guide-lines have attempted to facilitate the implementation of a system of “administered flexibility”. The Efficiency and Restructuring Principle adopted in March 1987, and the Structural Efficiency Principle adopted in August 1988, have been the major instruments of this attempt. In different industries and enterprises these principles have resulted in differing outcomes and approaches. In some industries, such as the chemical, steel and aluminium industries, restructuring has taken place at a company and/or enterprise level. In other industries such as metal fabrication, road transport, building and construction, a “blue-print” industry approach has been adopted. This paper examines award restructuring in such a “blue-print” industry.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1990

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