Brave New Workplace; How Individual Contracts are Changing our Jobs.

Crows Nest, NSW, Alien and Unwin. 2006. ISBN 1741148650. $29.95

David Peetz

The Howard government's new WorkChoices legislation means that once again industrial relations, or 'workplace relations' in the government's formulation of the issue, are at the forefront of public debate. There have already been a number of commentaries on the particulars of the new legislation (see for example Briggs & Buchanan, 2005; Lansbury, 2005; Peetz, 2005; Stewart, 2005).

Brave New Workplace; How individual contracts are changing our jobs is an important and timely book by David Peetz. It does not specifically examine the new legislation, rather it examines the underpinning logic or ideology of the legislation, and the implications of this ideology for the workplace. In particular the book examines the individualisation of employment relations and the individualisation of society. Written for a broad readership with an open accessible style, this book will appeal to a range of audiences from undergraduates to policy practitioners and analysts.

Peetz begins with an examination of the concepts of individualism and collectivism, analysing the rhetorical uses of the language of market individualism in Australia today and asks:

Is the push for individualism all a discursive trick? Is the attempt to individualise employment relations just a grab for power by somebody, under the cloak of rhetoric designed to make us think we are all individuals, while subsuming us into some new collective identity? (p 4)

Searching recent research on social values for evidence of increasing individualism, Peetz finds that Australians are not exhibiting a preference for individualism, and in fact demonstrated a greater sense of collectivism in 2001 than they did in 1979. He argues that our society supports and remains dependent on altruism, reciprocity and cooperative values.

The first half of the book focuses on the practical effects of individual and collective bargaining. Peetz shows that there is no demonstrable link between the use of individual contracts and increased productivity. He makes the important distinction between productivity improvements and increasing profits, emphasising that cutting labour costs does not improve the quantity or quality of output but rather reduces the costs of inputs per unit of output and simply changes the distribution between wages and profits.

Conversely, in examining collective bargaining, Peetz finds evidence for both improvements in productivity and a wage premium for union-based collective agreements. He argues that the use of individual agreements allows corporations to increase their managerial prerogative to gain greater control and power over workers.

The strength of this section of the book is Peetz's use of narratives of workers' lives, drawn from his own and others' research, to demonstrate the impact of individualised workplace relations on not only the workers, but also on their families, communities and society as a whole.

In the second half of the book, Peetz examines individualised workplace relations from the perspectives of the corporation, the union movement and government policy. He examines corporate strategies used to individualise the workplace; union strategies for re-collectivising workers; and plausible policy responses to redress the imbalance created by individualised workplace relations.

Chapter five, War is Peace, focuses in on the corporate strategies used to undermine and re-direct worker collectivity away from unions and towards the corporation. This very useful chapter develops a model for understanding such employer strategies. Peetz shows how corporations use employment practices, workplace relationships and information control to exclude some workers, particularly union members from workplace participation, while at the same time including other workers, by encouraging their identification with the corporation. This chapter examines corporate informational practices including the euphemisms and 'doublespeak' used by corporations who actively claim to support their workers' basic human rights while working to prevent union membership in the workplace. This chapter should be compulsory reading for all undergraduate human resource management and industrial relations students.

Peetz's examination of the union response to individualism is perhaps the most limited aspect of this otherwise comprehensive book. By focusing on those industries where individualism has made the greatest in-roads (particularly mining and communications) Peetz is able to examine strategies adopted by unions to revitalise collectivism. He examines the grass-roots empowerment strategies that the union movement has borrowed from community action groups, and analyses their effectiveness in strengthening collective identities in the workplace. However, this approach means that he ignores the strategies for survival adopted by unions that have retained and even increased union density in these times. It would be useful to also examine the factors at play in maintaining and increasing union participation amongst nurses and teachers for example. Have the same techniques been used?

Peetz's recommendations for policy responses stem from his basic view that the changes to workplace and industrial relations under WorkChoices are not about improving productivity, but are rather about increasing power for employers. He writes:

Over many years, societies have had to come up with ways of seeking to constrain the power of the powerful because, without effective constraints on power, society will eventually cease to be a functional collective entity and collapse (p 188).

He recommends an industrial relations system built upon international human rights models that promotes good faith collective bargaining. While suggesting there is a place for individual contracts, especially those that provide over-award payments for workers, he recommends the abolition of AWAs and non-union collective agreements which he sees as tools used to undercut worker collectivity and worker entitlements. He also recommends a stronger role for the independent umpire, arguing that the Australian Industrial Relations Commission needs to be able to make remedy for unfair practices in the workplace, and to ensure that discrimination and exclusivist techniques are not used by corporations.

Somewhat more difficult to achieve are Peetz's suggestions that we need a major change in the role of the government 'from an agent of the corporation, to something more closely resembling an agent of the people' (p 203); that we need to re-examine the concept of the corporation (p 206); and that we need to address the broader issue of enabling collective activism by equipping workers with the tools and resources to effect change and attain goals, rather than being powerless in the face of overwhelming institutional and economic forces (p 204). It is however, these principles that governments need to adopt to guide their future policy interventions.

References

Briggs, C. & Buchanan, J. (2005). 'Work, Commerce and the Law: A New Australian Model?', The Australian Economic Review; 38(2), 182-91.

Lansbury, R. (Ed.) (2005). IR Changes Report Card. Retrieved 21 June, 2005, from http://www.econ.usyd.edu.au/14896.html

Peetz, D. (2005). 'Coming Soon to a Workplace near You: The New Industrial Relations Revolution', Australian Bulletin of Labour, 31(2), 90-111.

Stewart, A. (2005). 'A Simple Plan for Reform?: The Problem of Complexity in Workplace Regulation', Australian Bulletin of Labour, 31(3), 210-36.

Reviewed by Larissa Bamberry, Workplace Research Centre, The University of Sydney