Stephen Clibborn

Why undocumented immigrant workers should have workplace rights

There exists a gap at the intersection of Australia’s immigration and employment laws that has serious implications for employees, employers and policy. Australia is host to a large and growing population of immigrants working without authorisation, described as the most significant problem facing Australian immigration authorities. These undocumented workers are often exploited by employers through wage theft, sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions. Yet, they are not entitled to protection under Australia’s employment laws. In addition to the implications for workers, there are broader policy concerns arising from the current system of regulation that effectively rewards employers who are equally in breach of immigration law. Left uncorrected, current regulation may in fact be encouraging a ‘race to the bottom’ for employment standards and increasing undocumented immigrant work. As well as highlighting the inadequacy of the existing regulatory framework, potential avenues for addressing this are explored.

Who Killed the Australian Automotive Industry: The Employers, Government or Trade Unions?

The decision by the three multinational automotive manufacturers—Ford, General Motors and Toyota—to cease production in Australia followed a long period of decline in the local industry. This paper examines the factors potentially contributing to these decisions including reductions in government assistance to the industry, the volatility in exchange rates, global strategic decisions by the parent companies to shift production to expanding markets in Asia, and the role of industrial relations and trade unions. Despite the attention given in public discourse to industrial relations arrangements in supposedly hastening the demise of local automotive manufacturing, we find that this factor made no identifiable difference to the final decisions of the parent companies in Tokyo and Detroit to cease production in Australia, which can be attributed to an unfavourable conjuncture of factors. The paper concludes by considering possible options for retaining some aspects of automotive manufacturing in Australia in the future.

Becoming an endangered species? The future viability of Australian automotive manufacturing

In recent decades, successive governments have reduced tariff protection and encouraged the Australian automotive industry to become more internationally competitive. The future of automotive manufacturing now rests largely on decisions made by the three remaining global parent companies: General Motors, Ford and Toyota. Despite extensive structural reforms of the industry to make it more internationally competitive, its future remains uncertain, particularly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Local Responses to a Global Downturn: Labour Adjustment in Two Multinational Companies

After years of steadily declining sales and profits, the global financial crisis sent the United States and Australian automotive manufacturing industries into crises of their own. Faced with dramatically reduced demand, the companies cut production and, consequently, their production workforces. Using qualitative data from case studies of the Ford Motor Company, the General Motors Company and their wholly owned Australian subsidiaries, Ford Australia and Holden, we can assess the extent to which these two multinational companies standardized their methods of adjusting labour levels and to what extent such responses were localized. In four manufacturing plants implementing similar cuts in production, responses were developed locally, shaped largely by local market, institutional and political forces.

Employer theft of temporary migrant workers’ wages in Australia: Why has the state failed to act?:

Wage theft has emerged as a major problem for regulation of work in Australia. Yet, the state has done little to address the issue. In this context, this article considers why there has been recent growth in reported cases of underpayment of wages, particularly of temporary migrant workers, and why the state has failed to implement a strategy to adequately address this problem. The article examines the fragmented nature of employment regulation and visa categories constraining worker agency which, combined with widening avenues for temporary migration, have contributed to the underpayment problem. We also consider how conflicting imperatives of the state, business influence over the policy process and weak political incentives to address underpayment help to account for the state’s inaction. JEL Codes: J58, J61, J81