6321.0.55.001 - Industrial Disputes, Australia, Mar 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/06/2004   
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MARCH QUARTER 2004 KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES

  • For the March quarter 2004, there were 187 disputes, the same as in the December quarter 2003.
  • The number of employees involved in industrial disputes decreased from 116,300 in the December quarter 2003 to 45,000 in the March quarter 2004.
  • There were 76,800 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the March quarter 2004, a decrease of 74,700 from the December quarter 2003.
  • The Education and Health and community services industries accounted for 24,500 (32%) of the total number of working days lost in the March quarter 2004. However, Mining (other than coal mining) was the industry with the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (71.3) for the quarter.
  • In the March quarter 2004, Victoria accounted for 38,500 (50%) of working days lost. Victoria also had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (18.3) for the quarter, followed closely by Western Australia (17.4).


YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES
  • During the year ended March 2004, there were 670 disputes, 88 less than in the year ended March 2003.
  • During the year ended March 2004, there were 449,900 working days lost, 197,300 more than in the year ended March 2003.

Working days lost
Graph - Working Days Lost


MARCH QUARTER 2004 KEY FIGURES

Quarter
Year ended
December Quarter 2003
March Quarter 2004
March 2003
March 2004

Number of disputes
Commenced in period (no.)
172
177
740
658
Total (no.)
187
187
758
670
Employees involved
Newly involved ('000)
114.9
44.4
142.3
289.9
Total ('000)
116.3
45.0
143.9
293.4
Working days lost ('000)
151.5
76.8
252.6
449.9


TABLES

1. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter

Number of disputes
Employees involved
Commenced in period
Total
Newly involved
Total
Working days lost
no.
no.
'000
'000
'000

March Quarter 2002
168
179
44.5
46.6
72.7
June Quarter 2002
188
205
39.9
41.4
63.4
September Quarter 2002
218
240
35.6
40.9
53.4
December Quarter 2002
181
198
37.7
41.1
69.6
March Quarter 2003
153
162
29.2
30.1
66.3
June Quarter 2003
129
141
26.2
29.7
55.5
September Quarter 2003
180
193
104.4
107.9
166.2
December Quarter 2003
172
187
114.9
116.3
151.5
March Quarter 2004
177
187
44.4
45.0
76.8

2. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, Industry

December Quarter 2003
March Quarter 2004
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000

Mining
Coal mining
1.6
75.0
0.7
31.5
Other
9.4
134.5
5.7
71.3
Manufacturing
Metal product; Machinery and equipment
28.7
80.8
4.8
13.0
Other
5.4
8.8
7.0
11.2
Construction
38.2
75.4
23.2
44.4
Transport and storage; Communication services
5.6
14.9
3.9
7.4
Education; Health and community services
51.8
30.3
24.5
15.8
Other industries
10.7
2.4
7.0
1.5
All industries
151.5
18.4
76.8
9.3

3. Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, States and territories

December Quarter 2003
March Quarter 2004
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
Working days lost
Working days lost per thousand employees
'000
'000

New South Wales
53.5
19.5
12.7
4.6
Victoria
37.7
18.3
38.5
18.3
Queensland
13.6
8.7
6.0
3.8
South Australia
4.4
7.2
4.9
8.1
Western Australia
41.2
50.7
14.4
17.4
Tasmania
0.6
3.6
0.3
1.7
Northern Territory
0.2
2.0
-
-
Australian Capital Territory
0.3
1.8
-
-
Australia
151.5
18.4
76.8
9.3

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

4. Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter

December Quarter 2003
March Quarter 2004
Number of disputes
Employees involved
Working days lost
Number of disputes
Employees involved
Working days lost
no.
'000
'000
no.
'000
'000

CAUSE OF DISPUTE

Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related
Remuneration
23
16.4
34.3
15
84.2
128.6
Employment conditions
8
9.1
44.3
14
9.9
54.3
Other EB related
12
2.3
5.2
7
0.8
1.1
Non-EB related
Remuneration
10
1.5
2.5
13
1.9
1.7
Employment conditions
7
1.6
0.9
6
0.6
0.6
Health and safety
46
9.2
11.9
62
10.6
14.9
Job security
10
1.7
15.6
13
2.7
3.9
Managerial policy
33
6.6
15.8
35
6.1
11.9
Union issues
10
1.4
0.9
15
2.8
3.9
Other non-EB related
18
69.3
54.8
7
4.7
5.5
Total
177
119.2
186.4
187
124.2
226.4

WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED

Up to and including 1 day
90
70.2
48.2
106
22.3
15.6
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days
43
32.4
36.6
41
85.9
125.5
Over 2 and less than 5 days
25
13.6
58.6
31
6.4
18.2
5 and less than 10 days
11
2.4
15.7
8
9.5
61.4
10 days and over
8
0.6
27.3
1
0.1
5.7
Total
177
119.2
186.4
187
124.2
226.4

REASON WORK RESUMED

Negotiation without intervention of a third party
31
3.8
17.6
23
12.5
59.1
State legislation
9
0.5
1.5
20
3.2
4.2
Federal legislation
16
13.3
22.6
26
4.6
8.1
Pre-determined return to work
35
31.6
34.0
29
89.6
133.8
Resumption without negotiation
72
67.5
89.8
75
12.8
13.6
Mediation
8
1.9
3.6
14
1.5
7.4
Other reasons

Total
6
0.6
17.2
-
-
-
177
119.2
186.4
187
124.2
226.4



NOTES


INTRODUCTION

This is the first release of the electronic publication containing quarterly statistics on industrial disputes obtained from the Industrial Disputes collection. The December 2003 issue of Industrial Disputes, Australia (cat. no. 6321.0) was the final monthly release of industrial disputes statistics.


There are a number of changes to the release of Industrial Disputes statistics:

  • data previously released monthly, or on a 12 months ended basis is now released on a quarterly basis;
  • new classifications for Cause of dispute and Reason work resumed (formerly Method of settlement) have been introduced; and
  • the Duration of dispute data item has been renamed Working days lost per employee involved.

Electronic spreadsheets containing quarterly data from the March quarter 1985 onwards are now available from the ABS web site. Electronic spreadsheets containing the monthly series from January 1984 to December 2003 are still available on the ABS web site.


REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to 12 months ended December 2003 data, for the data relating to disputes which ended during the period. Some disputes which were originally classified as ended during the period were subsequently identified as continuing into the next period.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Peta Sheehan on Perth (08) 9360 5159. As well as the statistics included in this publication, other data from the Industrial Disputes collection are available either as time series spreadsheets (see links below) or, on request, as customised reports. If you wish to discuss individual requests please telephone Peta Sheehan.