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No ABN/No Start: Changes in work organisation and their impact on labour standards in the NSW construction industry 1980 – 2011 John Sutton B. Econ. (Hons) A thesis submitted to the University of New South Wales for the degree of Master of Philosophy April 2018 Abstract This research explores changing forms of work organisation in the NSW construction industry 1980- 2011 and examines how labour standards for construction workers were affected by them. Three main non-Standard Employment Relations (SER) arrangements are considered: self-employed sub- contracting, labour hire/agency work and guestworkers. These precarious employment practices are examined using quantitative and qualitative research methods. Statistical data are used to track their increased use; then evidence and findings from thirteen public inquiries held between 1979 and 2011 are interrogated using a ‘critical theory’ methodology. Conclusions are drawn about how and why precarious arrangements became entrenched in the NSW construction industry. The evidence demonstrates that major employer interests worked pro-actively with their political allies to protect and extend the reach of these ‘flexible’ forms of work organisation. The spread of self-employed sub-contracting from the housing sector to the whole construction industry is a particular focus. The growth of ‘sham contracting’ was something employer interests consistently denied but strategically fostered. The widespread use of tax avoidance is identified as the central element allowing employers and their political supporters to deregulate the labour market in a strongly-unionised industry. Advocates of neo-liberal policy prescriptions such as the Productivity Commission, and Royal Commissioners selected by LNP Coalition governments, played a significant role in spreading these work arrangements. For employers these poorly regulated forms of work organisation meant lower labour costs and traditional business obligations passed to others less able to bear those risks. For construction workers the consequences were: reduced labour standards through irregular income; work intensification; exposure to unsafe workplaces; and an absence of short and long term social protections. _______________________________ i Originality Statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ _____________________________ ii Copyright Statement ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ Authenticity Statement ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ iii iv Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... i Statements and Thesis Sheet……………..……………………………………………………………………………………..… ii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..… v Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. vii List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… viii Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aims of the Thesis ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Theory and Methodology ....................................................................................................... 4 1.2.1 Labour Process Theory ........................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 The Critical Method ............................................................................................................... 7 1.2.3 Ex-Actor becomes Researcher ............................................................................................... 8 1.2.4 The data source: Documentary evidence .............................................................................. 9 1.3 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2 Labour market regulation in the NSW construction industry 1980 -2011: a literature review.................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 The theory of labour standards regulation ................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 Defining ‘labour standards’ and ‘regulation’ ....................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Enforcement – theoretical approaches and practical issues ............................................... 17 2.3 Neo-liberalism and the Australian labour market ...................................................................... 20 2.3.1 What is precarious employment and contingent work? ..................................................... 20 2.4 Precarious labour market strategies and the construction sector ............................................. 23 2.4.1 Self-employed sub-contracting ............................................................................................ 23 2.4.2 Labour-hire/Agency workers ............................................................................................... 26 2.4.3 Guestworkers/Temporary migrant workers ........................................................................ 29 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 3 Industry Structures, Workforce Characteristics and Industrial Relations in the NSW Construction Industry 1980- 2011 ........................................................................................................ 35 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 35 3.2 Features of the Production System............................................................................................. 36 3.2.1 Production Process .............................................................................................................. 36 v 3.2.2 Market Segmentation .......................................................................................................... 37 3.3 Industry Structures...................................................................................................................... 38 3.3.1 Employers and their Organisations ...................................................................................... 38 3.3.2 Workers and their Organisations ......................................................................................... 42 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 4: Use and Abuse of Self-employed Sub-Contracting in the NSW Construction industry 1980- 2011 ...................................................................................................................................................... 54 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 54 4.2 Growth trends in self-employed sub-contracting 1980-2011 .................................................... 54 4.3 The Body of Evidence – Public Inquiries ..................................................................................... 61 4.3.1 From Burns to Gyles (1979-1992) – the spread of self-employed sub-contracting ............ 61 4.3.2 From the Productivity Commission to Cole (1999-2003) – restricting union

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