Book Review

Regional Employment Relations at Work is not a text for those seeking an academic discourse on the nature of the region in employment relations. Nor is it a theoretical exploration seeking to justify or condemn the study or existence of regional industrial relations phenomena, even if in Chapter 1 it does make a somewhat brief argument in support of a regional research focus. Nor does it provide an analysis that is rich in individual anecdote, experience and practice. Rather, the work comprises a comprehensive and painstaking examination of employment relations in the Illawarra region (geographically defined by the local government areas of Kiama, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Wingecaribee and Wollongong) in comparison with the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS 1995). As such, it is a valuable and useful empirical contribution to our knowledge of employment relations in a regional setting, as a sub-set of the wider Australian system. Indeed, as the authors state, there has previously been a 'paucity of regional data', a void which this extensive case study has begun to fill (pp. 1–2).	1
The regional employment relations' data presented in this book is the result of an extensive survey of management, unions and employees in large and small workplaces in the Illawarra region. The survey adopted the six 1995 AWIRS questionnaires with minor modification to take account of regional characteristics and the time lapse between AWIRS 1995 and IRWIRS. Not surprisingly, the structure, organisation and chapter layout of Regional Employment Relations at Work substantially mirrors that of Changes at Work (Moorhead et al, 1997), which reports on the findings of AWIRS 1995.	2
In many respects, the data does not portray a significant difference in employment relations in the Illawarra region in comparison to the national experience, even though the authors indicate that it reveals 'a complex regional pattern of management structures and relations with employees' (p. 381). It seems that their argument of a distinctive regionalism in employment relations in the Illawarra is not generally supported, although some interesting differences were identified. Of particular note was the higher propensity for trade union membership in the Illawarra compared to Australia generally. This was reflected in a private sector that was almost as strongly unionised as the public sector, and higher union membership density amongst women and part-time employees compared to the national average. The authors also identified significant organisational differences in the region. These included the simultaneous occurrence of a major proportion of organisations displaying a high degree of local autonomy compared to a 'significant proportion of larger multisite organisations' where 'the region is treated as a "branch office" economy' (p. 395).	3
An interesting question in respect of a publication of this nature is whether or not it serves a useful purpose, or is it just a production of empirical data for the sake of it? In this case, the survey and the book clearly serve a useful purpose and will provide, as does AWIRS, plenty of opportunity for further research. In my view, the culmination of the work of these researchers provides an extremely useful regional database for planners, policy makers, academics and scholars, something that is clearly lacking in most other industrial regions in Australia. Importantly, their work also dispels the myth of the Illawarra's poor industrial relations image. Although the authors recognise there is room for improvement, they clearly identify that the strength of employer and employee networks and institutions in the region has led to a predominantly positive employment relations' climate and this trend should continue.	4
Monash University LEN PULLIN

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