Enterprise Bargaining in Australia and New Zealand: Private Sector Comparisons

Abstract: This paper presents research from a larger project investigating industrial relations and human resource management practices across Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The comparisons in this paper are between private sector unionised organisations of fifty employees and over. Data were collected from 677 organisations. Our dependent variable in this study is the extent to which organisations have not entered into an enterprise agreement, have negotiated one that doesn't differ significantly from previous award conditions and agreements that do differ significantly from terms and conditions attributable to more centralised bargaining conditions. One of our key independent variables was the extent to which enterprise bargaining was associated with an employers desire to avoid unionisation. We found no support for this hypothesis. However, we found moderate support for enterprise bargaining being associated with workforce reduction and also with employers operating in the service sector. New Zealand employers were also much more likely to negotiate enterprise agreements that differed from old award conditions prior to the Employment Contracts Act