Professor S Deery. Entry into honours program. First semester Three hours a week of seminars. On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• understand the main conceptual and theoretical elements of industrial relations;
• identify the factors that affect the distinctive character of employer-employee relations in Australia;
• critically evaluate contemporary policy debates in the areas of wage determination and labour market flexibility.

General and discipline-based theories of industrial relations. The employment relationship, idiosyncratic exchange and models of management control. Employee turnover and absenteeism: an individual and organisational analysis. Business strategies, product life cycles and effects on the industrial relations requirements of management. Theories of union membership and trade union purpose and the impact of unions on wages and productivity. The industrial relations of wage fixation, role of the Accord and pressures for enterprise bargaining. A 3-hour end-of-semester examination (80 per cent) and an essay of approximately 2,000 words (20 per cent).