This paper provides a broad overview of the role that unions have, and have not — played in the unfolding drama of public management reform in the United States. Factors impeding the ability of unions to shape the reform movement are highlighted. Fragmentation of power and even the absence of rudimentary collective bargaining rights in many locations restrict civil servants’ ability to influence the reform agenda. As a result, New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have progressed in a fashion that often works to the disadvantage of public workers. ‘De-privileging’, privatisation, and devolution of public agencies have become almost ubiquitous. The paper concludes with the observation that NPM offers a golden opportunity, if not the obligation, for management and labour to adopt a more cooperative and participatory approach to policy making in the workplace.

Having outlined a traditional model of British public sector industrial relations, this article focuses on developments from the 1980s to 2001. It argues that there has been a reorganisation of the state through privatisation and an historical shift in employment relations, from the state as a ‘model’, administrative employer to an increasingly managerial employer. In effect, a depoliticisation of employment relations has taken place, with the withdrawal of central government from direct control over operational and organisational activity in the public services. As part of these processes, the public services in Britain have been marketised, with the creation of a public service sector, no longer defined by ownership but by the service provided. These developments are reflected in the changing patterns of industrial relations activity in the public services, with profound implications for trade unionism.

This article traces the transformation of the Australian federal public service from an administrative towards a more managerial model of the state. The paper will argue that the process has been uneven and, at times, contested. A particular feature of the paper will be a discussion of the role of organised labour in the process. The paper outlines the central features of the administrative state model and the emerging features of the managerial model of the state. The focus of the paper is on the employment and industrial relations characteristics of public service employment. Comparison will be made between the different paths taken by the Labor government from 1983 and the Coalition government since 1996.

In this paper, it is argued that the benefits of competitive tendering and contracting have been overestimated, and that many of the apparent benefits actually reflect transfers rather than efficiency gains. Moreover, if arrangements for competitive tendering and contracting yield an inappropriate allocation of risk, such policies can reduce welfare rather than enhancing it as is commonly claimed. A number of case studies are presented to illustrate the latter proposition. Finally, some recommendations are presented for improvements in policy with respect to competitive tendering and contracting.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways in which core labour standards can be incorporated into the WTO. Though regarded by some as simply a vehicle for protectionism, the campaign for core labour standards is based on sound economics that extends the logic of trade regulation to the international dimension of labour. Getting agreement on core labour standards and enforcing them will be a difficult task, but one best conducted through the WTO using a joint ILO/WTO enforcement mechanism. It is argued that such a task will bring much-needed legitimacy to the WTO, and increase the chances that it can deliver a world of prosperous, open and fair trade.

This paper defines job sharing and explores its potential benefits. An overview of its origins and growth in Australia and overseas is followed by discussion of management issues. Organisational issues concern aspects of planning, implementation and operation. Issues for job sharers include finding an appropriate job share partner, maintenance of the job sharing relationship, protection of voluntary participation and preservation of pro rata benefits and other working conditions. A process for facilitating effective liaison between management, job sharers and trade unions is proposed. Job sharing is uncommon in Australia but may assist workers to balance work and family responsibilities or pursue interests outside work while avoiding many disadvantages of precarious work. For employers, it may facilitate retention of valued staff, reduce turnover, enhance recruiting or reduce staff costs. These propositions have not been rigorously tested, however, and avenues for future research are therefore explored.

A number of recent inquiries into Australia’s national training system have found it to be on the sick side. This article seeks the causes of this in the recent evolution of training policy, which commenced in the late 1980s. The article traces the demise of the first moderately interventionist National Training Reform Agenda, which union reformers played a role in shaping, through the increasing marketisation of training policy. Under the Liberal National Coalition, budget constraints and the short term interests of employers have increasingly driven training policy. The drift of policy is against the grain of prescriptions drawn from the international literature, which shows the need for interventionist measures to correct ‘market failure’, and to ensure adequate expenditure and the integrity of qualifications.