Stewart Sweeney

Yes, George, I'm happy to do that. I arrived in South Australia on 1st April – April ... Fool's Day – 1975, having spent three years previously in Tasmania as a tutor in the ... Politics Department at the University of Tasmania. Before then, of course, I'd been ... Catholic background, ...

This paper provides a brief overview and critique of aspects of the Australian trade union history literature focusing on the fifty or so books in and out of print. The paper highlights a concern that the existing literature is singularly limited in its assessment of trade union effectiveness in pursuing their objectives in relation to union organising, union democracy, union action and union gains, let alone the role of unions in economic and social transformation. In sum, it appears possible to read much of the literature and still be left with little or no idea of what contribution the union under study, has or has not made, to even some of the basics of union activity. These include maintenance or improvement of wages in relation to prices, average weekly earnings or other key benchmarks. This lacuna in the literature appears to apply equally to the effectiveness of trade union activity in other substantive areas of struggle including working hours, work intensity, occupational ...

analysis. While others, (e.g. the experience of unemployment) fail to be posed at all? My final criticism is directed from an Australian industrial relations perspective. It is that most of the readings are based on American research materials which makes generalizations across cultures rather tentative. More importantly, Australian organizational and industrial behaviour is shaped by a vigorous union movement, but alas, this volume contains no material on labour-management relations or trade unions. While this omission obviously reflects the value bias of American industrial psychology, it certainly makes this book less useful to Australians than it might have been. Despite these reservations, this volume is a must for every library which caters for specialists in organizational behaviour. Managers will find a veritable treasure trove of ideas and techniques capable of practical employment, while trade unions would be well advised to keep this book handy so that new managerial strategies can be quickly comprehended and, if necessary, countered. For academics this volume contributes a mine of information and analysis. But unless you are an ardent industrial psychologist, a wealthy book collector, or just plain lucky, then it is better to have library access to this book rather than