David Peetz - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by David Peetz

Various explanations have been put forward for the recent divergence in growth rates of CEO pay a... more Various explanations have been put forward for the recent divergence in growth rates of CEO pay and average earnings, but those which most clearly match the evidence concern power and the institutions of remuneration setting. Executive pay is characterised by ‘dual asymmetric pattern bargaining’, whereby firms seek to benchmark their CEO pay to higher-paying firms, and grant CEOs, with whom corporate decision makers share a social milieu, increasing benefits which also confer status benefits on the firm – in sharp contrast to the distributional pay negotiations which occur with workers. Executive remuneration rises disproportionately during boom periods, but fails to symmetrically fall during poor times. Thus 'everybody knows ' that CEOs are overpaid, but firms are unwilling to do anything about it, because to do so would damage internal class relations and firm status. The different methods of pay setting for workers and CEOs reflect core differences in class power and ch...

The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry worke... more The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry workers has been justified by reference to claimed gains in productivity and hence national welfare. Yet the literature suggests that a more cooperative approach to union-management relations would offer better opportunities for productivity improvement. This article examines the data behind the productivity claims and finds that they were erroneous, probably due to incorrect transcription, and that the source data indicated no relative productivity gains against the identified benchmark. Despite being made aware of this, the state agency and its consultant maintained the original claims about the size of productivity and welfare gains from the use of coercive powers. Official cross-industry and time series data also showed no productivity gains arising from the use of coercive powers. However, there is some evidence that there has been a shift of income shares in the industry from labour to ...

47th CIRA Annual Congress / CRIMT International Conference Employee Representation in the New Wor... more 47th CIRA Annual Congress / CRIMT International Conference Employee Representation in the New World of Work: The dynamics of rights, voice, performance and power 16 18 June 2010, Université Laval Quebec, Canada . Introduction In a diversifying labour force, traditional models of unionism find it increasingly difficult to sustain unionism and workplace activism. Excessively bureaucratic forms of unionism have trouble adapting to the growing demands of a varied membership, and increasing reliance must be placed on the workplace level and democratisation of unions if they are to reverse the decline in membership and activism that has generally occurred across industrialised countries. But increased power at the workplace by the union, and increased power within the union, cannot be exercised by members if they lack the requisite skills and confidence. For this, effective union education and training is essential.

Personnel Review, 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employm... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employment relations (ER) between emerging and established firms,Design/methodology/approachA large national telephone survey (N=1,416) of both emerging (<5 years) and established firms was conducted.FindingsEmerging firms were more casualised, less unionised, and experiencing higher levels of market expansion and unpredictability. Despite these differences, younger firms showed otherwise remarkable similarity to older firms across a range of ER practices, and both categories showed a reliance on business networks, rather formal training, for ER knowledge. While introducing ER changes more rapidly than older (and larger) firms, they were converging towards a suite of ER practices similar to that adopted by older firms. The results suggest that, if anything, established firms may have been engaged in greater innovation in more unusual ER practices.Research limitations/implicationsOnly manager...

Young Workers and Trade Unions

The International Handbook of Labour Unions

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2014

Analysis of developments in union membership has been hampered by the variability of official sta... more Analysis of developments in union membership has been hampered by the variability of official statistics. Use of trend union membership data can give us a more accurate medium and longer term perspective on the degree of union decline or revival at aggregated and disaggregated levels. Across a range of measures, the trend is for the rates of decline of both union membership and density to be easing. This is happening in most states and industries, and amongst most types of employees. Over the longer term, density has been declining by disproportionately large amounts in the private sector, amongst men and amongst casual employees. However, the decline amongst part-timers has been less than that amongst full-timers, due to the shift towards casualisation of full-time work. Continuing improvements in aggregate union membership require substantial continuing internal reform, building on the progress that has been made within unionised workplaces and developing genuine growth strategies.

Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 2012

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2011

Is there a job-quality problem in mining? Is part of this problem that mining employees are worki... more Is there a job-quality problem in mining? Is part of this problem that mining employees are working involuntary long hours? If so, how extensive is this problem? What is the impact, if any, of involuntary long hours in mining on family life? And how much control do mining employees have over their working-time arrangements? What are the possible policy responses? We address these questions through analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Work and Life Index survey, a survey of employees in Queensland, and qualitative interviews with 135 people associated with the Queensland mining industry. We find evidence of substantial involuntary long hours in mining, closely related to 24-hour operations and 12-hour shifts, with adverse implications for the work—life balance, which is made worse where employees lack input into the design of rosters. The findings suggest that, in order to promote ‘good jobs’ in the mining industry, there is both a need to revisit...

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2010

The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry worke... more The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry workers has been justified by reference to claimed gains in productivity and hence national welfare. Yet the literature suggests that a more cooperative approach to union—management relations would offer better opportunities for productivity improvement. This article examines the data behind the productivity claims and finds that they were erroneous, probably due to incorrect transcription, and that the source data indicated no relative productivity gains against the identified benchmark. Despite being made aware of this, the state agency and its consultant maintained the original claims about the size of productivity and welfare gains from the use of coercive powers. Official cross-industry and time series data also showed no productivity gains arising from the use of coercive powers. However, there is some evidence that there has been a shift of income shares in the industry from labour to ...

Industrial Relations Journal, 2013

Industrial Relations Journal, 2009

Articles, 2002

Each action of a decollectivizing employer—be it in the realm of employment practices, informatio... more Each action of a decollectivizing employer—be it in the realm of employment practices, information or relational actions—has both real and symbolic dimensions that may be inclusivist, exclusivist or both. While many attempts at decollectivism are crude, Australia has seen the emergence of a coherent model of sophisticated decollectivist behaviour which has policy implications for many countries. Some analogies can be seen between certain sophisticated strategies of decollectivizing employers and state strategies of Oceania in Orwell’s 1984, though there are many limits to such analogies and indeed to the success of decollectivist strategies, due to the contradiction between rhetoric and actions, employees’ exposure to other discourses and the potential for union response and renewal.

Queensland Department of …, 2003

Various explanations have been put forward for the recent divergence in growth rates of CEO pay a... more Various explanations have been put forward for the recent divergence in growth rates of CEO pay and average earnings, but those which most clearly match the evidence concern power and the institutions of remuneration setting. Executive pay is characterised by ‘dual asymmetric pattern bargaining’, whereby firms seek to benchmark their CEO pay to higher-paying firms, and grant CEOs, with whom corporate decision makers share a social milieu, increasing benefits which also confer status benefits on the firm – in sharp contrast to the distributional pay negotiations which occur with workers. Executive remuneration rises disproportionately during boom periods, but fails to symmetrically fall during poor times. Thus 'everybody knows ' that CEOs are overpaid, but firms are unwilling to do anything about it, because to do so would damage internal class relations and firm status. The different methods of pay setting for workers and CEOs reflect core differences in class power and ch...

The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry worke... more The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry workers has been justified by reference to claimed gains in productivity and hence national welfare. Yet the literature suggests that a more cooperative approach to union-management relations would offer better opportunities for productivity improvement. This article examines the data behind the productivity claims and finds that they were erroneous, probably due to incorrect transcription, and that the source data indicated no relative productivity gains against the identified benchmark. Despite being made aware of this, the state agency and its consultant maintained the original claims about the size of productivity and welfare gains from the use of coercive powers. Official cross-industry and time series data also showed no productivity gains arising from the use of coercive powers. However, there is some evidence that there has been a shift of income shares in the industry from labour to ...

47th CIRA Annual Congress / CRIMT International Conference Employee Representation in the New Wor... more 47th CIRA Annual Congress / CRIMT International Conference Employee Representation in the New World of Work: The dynamics of rights, voice, performance and power 16 18 June 2010, Université Laval Quebec, Canada . Introduction In a diversifying labour force, traditional models of unionism find it increasingly difficult to sustain unionism and workplace activism. Excessively bureaucratic forms of unionism have trouble adapting to the growing demands of a varied membership, and increasing reliance must be placed on the workplace level and democratisation of unions if they are to reverse the decline in membership and activism that has generally occurred across industrialised countries. But increased power at the workplace by the union, and increased power within the union, cannot be exercised by members if they lack the requisite skills and confidence. For this, effective union education and training is essential.

Personnel Review, 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employm... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employment relations (ER) between emerging and established firms,Design/methodology/approachA large national telephone survey (N=1,416) of both emerging (<5 years) and established firms was conducted.FindingsEmerging firms were more casualised, less unionised, and experiencing higher levels of market expansion and unpredictability. Despite these differences, younger firms showed otherwise remarkable similarity to older firms across a range of ER practices, and both categories showed a reliance on business networks, rather formal training, for ER knowledge. While introducing ER changes more rapidly than older (and larger) firms, they were converging towards a suite of ER practices similar to that adopted by older firms. The results suggest that, if anything, established firms may have been engaged in greater innovation in more unusual ER practices.Research limitations/implicationsOnly manager...

Young Workers and Trade Unions

The International Handbook of Labour Unions

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2014

Analysis of developments in union membership has been hampered by the variability of official sta... more Analysis of developments in union membership has been hampered by the variability of official statistics. Use of trend union membership data can give us a more accurate medium and longer term perspective on the degree of union decline or revival at aggregated and disaggregated levels. Across a range of measures, the trend is for the rates of decline of both union membership and density to be easing. This is happening in most states and industries, and amongst most types of employees. Over the longer term, density has been declining by disproportionately large amounts in the private sector, amongst men and amongst casual employees. However, the decline amongst part-timers has been less than that amongst full-timers, due to the shift towards casualisation of full-time work. Continuing improvements in aggregate union membership require substantial continuing internal reform, building on the progress that has been made within unionised workplaces and developing genuine growth strategies.

Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 2012

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2011

Is there a job-quality problem in mining? Is part of this problem that mining employees are worki... more Is there a job-quality problem in mining? Is part of this problem that mining employees are working involuntary long hours? If so, how extensive is this problem? What is the impact, if any, of involuntary long hours in mining on family life? And how much control do mining employees have over their working-time arrangements? What are the possible policy responses? We address these questions through analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Work and Life Index survey, a survey of employees in Queensland, and qualitative interviews with 135 people associated with the Queensland mining industry. We find evidence of substantial involuntary long hours in mining, closely related to 24-hour operations and 12-hour shifts, with adverse implications for the work—life balance, which is made worse where employees lack input into the design of rosters. The findings suggest that, in order to promote ‘good jobs’ in the mining industry, there is both a need to revisit...

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2010

The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry worke... more The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry workers has been justified by reference to claimed gains in productivity and hence national welfare. Yet the literature suggests that a more cooperative approach to union—management relations would offer better opportunities for productivity improvement. This article examines the data behind the productivity claims and finds that they were erroneous, probably due to incorrect transcription, and that the source data indicated no relative productivity gains against the identified benchmark. Despite being made aware of this, the state agency and its consultant maintained the original claims about the size of productivity and welfare gains from the use of coercive powers. Official cross-industry and time series data also showed no productivity gains arising from the use of coercive powers. However, there is some evidence that there has been a shift of income shares in the industry from labour to ...

Industrial Relations Journal, 2013

Industrial Relations Journal, 2009

Articles, 2002

Each action of a decollectivizing employer—be it in the realm of employment practices, informatio... more Each action of a decollectivizing employer—be it in the realm of employment practices, information or relational actions—has both real and symbolic dimensions that may be inclusivist, exclusivist or both. While many attempts at decollectivism are crude, Australia has seen the emergence of a coherent model of sophisticated decollectivist behaviour which has policy implications for many countries. Some analogies can be seen between certain sophisticated strategies of decollectivizing employers and state strategies of Oceania in Orwell’s 1984, though there are many limits to such analogies and indeed to the success of decollectivist strategies, due to the contradiction between rhetoric and actions, employees’ exposure to other discourses and the potential for union response and renewal.

Queensland Department of …, 2003