Neoliberal employer industrial relations strategies in the US and Australian meat industries

Neoliberalism emerged as a dominant doctrine of political-economic practice during the late 1970s. Its influence over the last three decades on social policy in both Western developed economies, such as the United States of America (USA or US) and Australia, and in developing economies, such as Chile and China, has been widely analysed but its influence on business-level industrial relations strategy is less well-known. Despite this limited understanding, its influence over management strategies cannot be ignored. Therefore, this paper aims to explore what might be regarded as neoliberal management strategies and practices. While this is a very broad canvas, this paper will focus specifically on management industrial relations strategies and practices in the US and Australian meat processing industries