He Department

Of £.S.D

Industrial relations and

)nomic growth, both as they

ect Australia, are dealt with in

3 books published during the

>nth. Industrial Relations from

nde is by Lee Freestone, a ictising industrial - relations isultant; and Economic owth in Australia, is a collec n of the papers presented at a mmer School of the Australian ititute of Political Science held the beginning of 1962.

' is possible that industrial rela tions in Australia are not worse n in any other country; but they n’t any better, either, and if Mr. :estone’s book is to be taken for pel, then having employees can considered about as thankless a ;iness as having children, and deal with th#m requires the same dime combination of common se and “science”.

Australian industrial relations may :er from other national varieties ;ause of the fundamental local iracteristic of being anti-authority; 1 the widely-held Australian belief t anyone who tries to stick his id up above everyone else deserves get it knocked off.

Hie author discusses this aspect affairs but says, also, that there i been a marked change in other ditional outlooks in the last 15 irs, due, to a big extent, to the iuence of New Australians and to iesire for some of the good things life —as the writer puts it, “more icious living”—and the highest ssible education for their children.

It was a traditional union view it women did not work after image and it is still the official iw of many unions. Nonetheless, has become the accepted thing in istralia for a new wife to go on irking, at least for a few years, til the couple have “become tied” —meaning that they have a use completely furnished, a car, a / set, and all the electric home pliances that a woman now pects.

Another union principle that is ore honoured in the breach, is the atter of overtime. The unions are ;ainst excessive overtime but most arkers want it—or more correctly

expect it and even demand it—again in the sacred cause of paying off the TV set or the washing machine, taking more expensive holidays, etc.

The Australian 40-hour week, employer-wise, has been a complete farce and has contributed in no small measure to the high cost of production of many Australian products. Where skilled tradesmen are in short supply, employers are merely forced into a position of hav ing to pay normal rates for the first 40 hours and then a surcharge at time and a half or double-time after that. Some workers won’t take jobs unless guaranteed a certain amount of overtime.

If he has some penetrating things to say about employees en masse, the author has similar barbs to hurl at employers and management whom he accuses of lack of sincerity and much hypocrisy in many of their attitudes, not only to the people who work for them but towards other employers.

A large section of the book is taken up with day-to-day industrial problems and how to deal with them.

For example, how to get rid of trouble-makers painlessly, without bringing the rest of the workers out on strike.

Sick pay, and people who cut out their sick leave each year by taking “sickies” (even when they are not

are gone over thoroughly. So the rights of management and of ■ns, demarcation disputes and y other problems. 11 the industrial authorities in tralia are listed and the functions jach described; there is informa about awards and the various e’s basic wages; margins for skill; conciliation and abritration hinery. he book should be of value to Dne who makes a living within tralia, on whichever side of the istrial fence he may be; and an ortant guide to overseas in rialists contemplating operations IE collection of papers under the title Economic Growth in Aus d is a much more academic roach to Australian industry, eople who contributed papers to Summer School last January were in Clark, director of the Institute Research in Agricultural Econo s, at Oxford; G. D’A Chislett, lomist to the Australian Wool vers and Graziers’ Federal mcil; Dr. J. Vernon, general lager of the Colonial Sugar Re ig Co. Ltd.; Professor Donald hrane, Dean of the Faculty of nomics and Politics, Monash Uni ity, Victoria; W. E. R. Francis, iident of the Law Council of Aus ia; and Professor H. W. Arndt, ) is Professor of Economics, 00l of General Studies, Australian ional University, Canberra, heir respective subjects were: uomic Growth; Prospects for »wth —Primary Industries; Fros ts for Growth —Secondary In tries; Growth and Stability; Social Political Aspects of Australia’s >nomic Growth; and Policy for imum Growth.

Audience participation in dis

sions followed the presentation of original papers at the Summer 1001 and the most interesting of se are printed following the main cles. interested in facts, figures 1 the long-range opinions on nomic and industrial growth and ispects from recognised experts, I find the collection of consider e value.

Industrial Relations From The

•IDE. Published by Angus and Robert » Ltd. 25/-.)

Economic Growth In Australia,

dished by Angus and Robertson Ltd. 6.)

Unless otherwise stated, all prices are Australian currency.