THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND COMMERCE
COURSE MATERIALS
FOR 732-307
LAW AND LABOUR
RELATIONS IN EAST ASIA &
THE PACIFIC RIM
1994
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE AND LECTURE OUTLINE
This subject is designed to introduce students to the labour
law and industrial relations systems of selected East Asian
and Pacific Rim countries. The subject is offered as a third
year single semester subject to students in the Faculty of
Economics and Commerce, and a substantial part of the course
is taught by Richard Mitchell, and focuses upon the labour law
of the selected countries. However, the course is a co-
operative venture, and is offered by the Faculty of Law in
association with the Department of Management and Industrial
Relations. Wendy Smith of the Department will be offering two
sessions in the course, dealing with aspects of industrial
relations in Malaysia.
It is not expected that students will have command of detailed
legal principle as it pertains to labour relations in the
selected countries. However, students will be required to
have a grasp of the statutory framework within which the
labour law systems have developed, and to be able to
understand the impact of this framework upon industrial
relations. The course will be directly comparative in
approach, and will draw upon systems theory, and sociological
tools of analysis in addition to the legal approach.
The subject is examinable by a 2½ hour final exam worth 80% of
the assessment and a 2,500 word essay worth 20% of the
assessment. Essay topics should be approved by Wednesday
August 17th, and submitted by Wednesday September 28th.
Labour Law (732-304) is a usual prerequisite for this subject,
but that requirement may be waived in appropriate cases.
Attached is an outline of the lecture programme. Classes run
from 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout
the semester. The classes are designed to encourage class
discussion and participation.
The text for the subject is S Deery and R Mitchell (eds),
Labour Law and Industrial Relations in Asia: Eight Country
Studies, Longman, Melbourne, 1993. For recommended reading
see also S Frenkel (ed) Organised Labor in the Asia-Pacific
Region IRL Press, New York, 1993. This will be supplemented
by other recommended readings and hand-out material where
appropriate.
Richard Mitchell
Wendy Smith
15 June 1994
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SEMINAR OUTLINE
1. Tuesday July 19 : Introduction to Course
2. Wednesday July 20 : Problems and Limitations in
Comparativism
3. Tuesday July 26 : Industrialisation and
Convergence Theory
4. Wednesday July 27 : The Role of the State in
Industrial Relations
5. Tuesday August 2 : The Role of the State in
Western Countries
6. Wednesday August 3 : Industrial Law Models in Western
Countries
7. Tuesday August 9 : The American Model of
Labour Law in Japan
8. Wednesday August 10 : Japanese Industrial Relations:
The Three Pillars
9. Tuesday August 16 : Japanese Industrial
Relations: Skill Formation and
its Implementation
10. Wednesday August 17 : Transferability of the Japanese
Model
11. Tuesday August 23 : The American Model in South
Korea
12. Wednesday August 24 : Industrial Relations in South
Korea
13. Tuesday August 30 : The Labour Law Framework in
the Philippines
14. Wednesday August 31 : Industrial Relations in the
Philippines
15. Tuesday September 6 : The British Model in Asia: Hong
Kong
16. Wednesday September 7 : Industrial Relations: The
Enigma of Hong Kong
17. Tuesday September 13 : The Development of Labour
Law in Singapore
18. Wednesday September 14 : Industrial Relations in
Singapore
19. Tuesday September 20 : Labour Law in Malaysia
20. Wednesday September 21: Industrial Relations in
Malaysia: Institutions (Wendy
Smith)
SEPTEMBER 27 AND 28 NO CLASSES - SEMESTER BREAK
21. Tuesday October 4 : Industrial Relations in
Malaysia: The Impact of Culture
and Ethnicity(Wendy Smith)
22. Wednesday October 5 : Legal Forms, Class and Culture
in Asian Industrial Relations
23. Tuesday October 11 : Stages of State Approaches
to Industrial Relations: A
Model
24. Wednesday October 12 : Application of Model to
Asian Countries
25. Tuesday October 18 : Recent Developments in
Asian Labour Law Systems
26. Wednesday October 19 : Convergence: Towards Which
Model?
OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
The objectives and content of this course are set out in the
Faculty of Economics and Commerce Handbook (1994) as follows:
Objectives: The principal specific objectives of
the subject are as follows:
. to enable the students to understand the origins of
labour law systems in the relevant countries, and in
particular the transferability of Western models to
developing countries;
. to give students a basic grasp of the relevant laws
which govern the employment relationship between
employer and employee;
. to give students an understanding of the laws
regulating trade unions and the settlement of
industrial disputes in the region;
. to enable students to place the development of these
laws in their economic and political contexts, and
to appreciate the link between legal and political
systems, and economic development;
. to enable students to appreciate the practice of
industrial relations in the various countries
examined, and the relationship between the legal
system and industrial relations practice;
. to give students an appreciation of the dynamism of
labour law and industrial relations systems;
. to introduce students to ways of varying models of
labour law, or industrial relations, to bring about
desired change for economic or social reasons.
Content: The subject will comprise the following
topics:
. the origins of labour law in East-Asia and the
Pacific Rim countries. An introduction to the
evolution of labour law models in the relevant
countries;
. transferability of legal models. An examination of
the ways in which East-Asian countries have
"borrowed" Anglo-American, and Australian models of
labour law;
. the adaptation of legal models in Asia. An
examination of the ways in which laws and legal
institutions are adapted to fit cultural, economic
and political contexts;
. the regulation of the individual employer-employee
relationship. An outline of the law comparing
approaches to the contract of employment and the
regulation of labour standards in the region;
. the regulation of industrial relations system. An
outline of the law comparing approaches to the regulation
of trade unions, and methods of industrial dispute
settlement in the region;
. industrial relations in practice. A study of the
practice, and a comparison of the formal rules and
actual practice.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
1. Why compare Australia with other systems or locate
Australia in an international context?
2. Australia and the East-Asian region.
3. Which countries are appropriate for study in an East-
Asian/Pacific Rim concept?
4. Notions of industrialisation and convergency theory in
the context of this course.
5. Purpose and Objects of the Course.
6. Method of approach and teaching objectives.
READING
F Castles, "Why Compare Australia?" in M Bray (ed) Teaching
Comparative Industrial Relations ACIRRT Monograph No 2,
University of Sydney, 1991, pp 7-21.
R Garnaut, Australia and the Northeast Asian Ascendancy,
Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1989.
R Mitchell, "The Deregulation of Industrial Relations Systems
and the Rise of the Non-Union Option: A Cross-National
Sketch" in P Ronfeldt and R McCallum (eds) A New Province for
Legalism: Legal Issues and the Deregulation of Industrial
Relations, ACIRRT Monograph No 9, University of Sydney, 1993,
pp 132-153 (herewith).
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 2: PROBLEMS OF COMPARATIVISM IN
LABOUR LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
1. What are the problems associated with comparisons between
legal and industrial relations systems of different
countries?
2. In what particular areas has Australia drawn its labour
law/relations models from concepts inherent in other
systems?
3. Has direct transferability of labour law concepts been
applied elsewhere? In what systems? How effective have
these transfers been?
4. Can we say that there is a general convergence of labour
law concepts leading to the adoption of a particular
model? Or are the systems too diverse to attempt such an
analysis? What would be the elements of such a model?
5. What has been the role of the ILO in establishing
international standards in labour law/relations? Has
this assisted a convergence process?
READING
J Schregle, "Comparative Industrial Relations: Pitfalls and
Potential", International Labour Review Vol 120 (1989) p 15.
O Kahn-Freund, "On Uses and Misuses of Comparative Law" (1974)
37 Modern Law Review, p 27.
M Bray (ed), Teaching Comparative Industrial Relations ACIRRT
Monograph, No 2, Sydney, 1991, pp 7-42.
R Bean, Comparative Industrial Relations, Croom Helm, Sydney,
1985, pp 1-19.
R Blanpain and C Engels (eds), Comparative Labour Law and
Industrial Relations in Industrialised Market Economics,
Kluwer, Deventer (The Netherlands) Vth and Revised edition,
1993, Chapter One.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 1.
S Townsend-Smith, "Trade Union Recognition Legislation -
Britain and America Compared" (1981) 1 Legal Studies, pp 190-
212.
C Whelan, "On Uses and Misuses of Comparative Labour Law: A
Case Study" (1982) 45 Modern Law Review, pp 285-300.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 3: INDUSTRIALISATION AND CONVERGENCE THEORY
1. What are the key elements of the industrialisation
process in East and South East Asia?
2. What has been the role of the labour movements in this
process?
3. What is meant by "convergence" of systems under
industrialisation?
4. Is convergence theory valid in the context of developing
economies in the Asia-Pacific region?
READING
C Kerr et al, Industrialism and Industrial Man, Penguin,
London, 1973, pp 279-306.
F C Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New
Asian Industrialism, Univ of California Press, Los Angeles,
1989. Chapter 1 (herewith) and Chapter 2.
W Bello and S Rosenfeld, Dragons in Distress: Asia's Miracle
Economies in Crisis, Penguin, London, 1990, Introduction,
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
N Haworth, "Teaching Comparative Labour Relations: A Global
Perspective" in M Bray (ed), Teaching Comparative Industrial
Relations, ACIRRT Monograph No 2, University of Sydney, 1991,
pp 22-42.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 4: THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
1. How is State policy towards industrial relations formed?
What are the mechanics?
2. What does the State aim to do in industrial relations?
Examine the concepts of suppression, toleration,
encouragement/recognition.
3. What method is used by the State?
READING
A Giles, "Industrial Relations Theory, the State, and
Politics" in J Barbash and K Barbash (eds), Theories and
Concepts in Comparative Industrial Relations, University of
South Carolina Press, 1989.
R Adams, "Regulating Unions and Collective Bargaining: A
Global, Historical Analysis of Determinants and Consequences"
(1993) 14 Comparative Labor Law Journal 272 (herewith).
F Deyo, Dependent Development and Industrial Order, Praeger,
New York, 1981, Chapter 1.
G Rimlinger, "Labor and the Government: A Comparative
Historical Perspective" (1977) 37 Journal of Economic History
210.
A Jacobs, "Collective Self-Regulation" in B Hepple (ed), The
Making of Labour Law in Europe: A Comparative Study of Nine
Countries Up To 1945, Mansell, London, 1986, pp 193-241.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 5: THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN WESTERN
INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES
1. What types of labour relations systems evolved under
industrialisation in the West?
2. What would you regard to be the critical features of
these systems? Do they have strong elements in common?
READING
Basic data for most countries may be found in J Hartog and J
Theeuwes (eds), Labour Market Contracts and Institutions: A
Cross-National Comparison, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1993.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 6: LABOUR LAW MODELS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES
1. What labour law models were established as a framework
for industrial relations in Britain, Australia and North
America?
2. What changes are coming about in these systems?
READING
P Boxall, "Towards the Wagner Framework: Change in New
Zealand Industrial Relations" (1990) 32 Journal of Industrial
Relations 523.
R Mitchell and M Rimmer, "Labour Law, Deregulation and
Flexibility in Australian Industrial Relations" (1990) 12
Comparative Labour Law Journal 1.
H J Glasbeek, "Agenda for Canadian Labour Law Reform: A
Little Liberal Law, Much More Democratic Socialist Politics"
(1993) 31 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 233.
R Mitchell and R Naughton, "Australian Compulsory Arbitration:
Will it Survive into the Twenty-First Century" (1993) 31
Osgoode Hall Law Journal 265.
Special Issue of the New Zealand Journal of Industrial
Relations (Vol 6 No 2, August 1991) on the Employment
Contracts Act (NZ).
Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Labour Law (Vol 6
No 2, August 1993) on the Employee Relations Act (Vic).
T Kochan, H Katz and R McKersie, The Transformation of
American Industrial Relations Basic Books, New York, 1986,
Chapters 2 and 3.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 7: THE AMERICAN MODEL OF LABOUR LAW IN JAPAN
1. What key concepts of American labour law were adopted in
the Japanese model?
2. In what ways has the Japanese system adapted or varied
the American model?
3. Identify the key features of the Japanese labour law
system from the legislation provided.
READING
Excerpts from the Labour Relations Adjustment Law; the Trade
Union Law; the National Enterprise Labour Relations Law; the
Labour Standards Law (herewith).
K Sugeno, "Japan: The State's Guiding Role in Socioeconomic
Development" (1993) 14 Comparative Labour Law Journal 302
(herewith).
W B Gould, Japan's Reshaping of American Labour Law, MIT
Press, Cambridge (US), 1984, pp 1-43.
F Hamada, "The Gist of Labour Relations Law in Japan: Its
Universalities and Peculiarities", Kobe University Law Review,
Vol 21, p 70.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapters 1 and 6.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 8: JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: THE THREE PILLARS
1. What are the so-called 3 pillars of Japanese industrial
relations, and what has been their impact upon the
system?
2. In what respect is the Japanese system a very "flexible"
one?
READING
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 6.
J B Moore, "Nikkeiren and Restoration of the Right to Manage
in Postwar Japan" (1990) 3 Labour and Industry 281 (herewith).
T Araki,"Flexibility in Japanese Employment Relations and the
Role of the Judiciary" in O. Hiroshi (ed), Japanese Commercial
Law in an Era of Internationalisation, Graham and Trotman,
London, 1994, pp 249-274 (herewith).
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 9: JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS -
SKILL FORMATION AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION
READING
Ronald Dore, Jean Bounine-Cabale, Kari Tapiola, Japan at Work:
Markets, Management and Flexibility, OECD, 1989, Chs 4, the
Flexible Firm and 5. The Diffusion and Viability of the
Japanese Employment System.
K Koike, "Skill Formation Systems: A Thai-Japanese
Comparison", Journal of the Japanese and International
Economies, Vol 1, pp 408-440, 1987.
K Koike, "Intellectual Skill and the Role of Employees as
Constituent Members of Large Firms in Contemporary Japan", in
Aoki, M et al, The Firm as a Nexus of Treaties, Sage
Publications, 1990, pp 185-208.
K Koike and T Inoki (eds), Skill Formation in Japan and
Southeast Asia, Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990.
Makoto Kumazawa and Jun Yamada, "Jobs and Skills under the
Lifelong Nenko Employment Practice", in S Wood (ed), The
Transformation of Work, 1989, London, Unwin Hyman.
Wendy Smith, "Skill Formation in Comparative Perspective:
Malaysia and Japan", Labour and Industry, 1, 3, pp 431-462,
October 1988 (herewith).
Stephen Wood, "The Japanese Management Model - Tacit Skills in
Shop Floor Participation", Work and Occupations, Vol 16, No 4,
November 1989, pp 446-460.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 10: THE TRANSFERABILITY OF THE JAPANESE MODEL
1. Is the Japanese "model" capable of adoption in other
countries?
2. Is it possible that we are converging towards a general
industrial relations model based on the Japanese system?
READING
P Garrahan and P Stewart, "Work Organisations in Transition:
The Human Resource Implications of the Nissan Way", Human
Resource Management Journal, 2, 2, Winter 1991/92.
E Kassalow, "Japan as an Industrial Relations Model", Journal
of Industrial Relations, 25, 2, 1983, pp 201-219.
S B Levine and Makoto Ohtsu, "Transplanting Japanese
Industrial Relations", Annals of the American Academy of
Political Science, January 1991, pp 102-116 (herewith).
James R Lincoln, "Employee Work Attitudes and Management
Practices in the US and Japan: Evidence from a Large
Comparative Survey", California Management Review, Fall, 1989,
pp 89-106.
Haruo Shimada, "Japanese Industrial Relations - A New General
Model?" in T Shirai (ed), Contemporary Industrial Relations in
Japan, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1983, pp 3-25
(herewith).
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 11: THE AMERICAN MODEL IN SOUTH KOREA
1. What are the key elements of the South Korean labour
relations law system?
2. Are these drawn from the American model? If so, how can
you account for the different development of industrial
relations in Japan and South Korea?
READING
The key elements of the South Korean Labour Law system may be
found in the extracts from the Trade Union Law; the Labour-
Management Council Law; the Labour Dispute Adjustment Law;
the Labour Relations Commission Law and the Labour Standards
Law (herewith).
R Rodgers, "Labor Relations Law and Labor Control in the
Republic of Korea", Korea Scope, Vol IV (1984), p 3.
K O'Neill, "Industrial Relations in Korea: Will Korea Become
Another Japan?", Comparative Labor Law Journal, Vol 12,
(1991), p 360.
J Porges, "The Development of Korean Labour Law and the Impact
of the American System", Comparative Labor Law Journal, Vol 12
(1991), p 335.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 5.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 12: THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS IN SOUTH KOREA
1. How do you account for the development of industrial
relations in South Korea?
2. What were the underlying forces behind the 1987 wave of
industrial unrest?
READING
J Zappala and R Lansbury, "Industrial Relations Trends in
Korea", Labour and Industry Vol 3, No 243, June/October 1990,
p 235.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 5.
Se-Il Park, "The Role of the State in Industrial Relations:
The Case of Korea" (1993) 14 Comparative Labour Law Journal
321.
J Peck, "Ramifications of the 1987 Labor Uprising in Korea"
(1988) 20 Journal of Law and Policy in International Business
331.
R A Rogers, "An Exclusionary Labour Regime Under Pressure:
The Changes in Labour Relations in the Republic of Korea since
Mid-1987" (1990) 8 Pacific Basin Law Journal 91.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 13: THE LABOUR LAW FRAMEWORK IN THE PHILIPPINES
1. What are the key elements in the Philippines labour law
system?
2. How much resemblance do these elements bear to the
American system of collective labour law?
READING
E T Ramos, Dualistic Unionism and Industrial Relations, New
Day Publishers, Quezon City, 1990, Chapter 3.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 7.
The elements of the Philippines labour law system are found in
the Labor Code, extracts of which are provided herewith.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 14: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
READING
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 7.
R V Lambert, "The Trade Union Politics of Kilusang Mayo Uno in
Comparative Perspective: Some Preliminary Observations" in G
Griffin (ed) Current Research in Industrial Relations,
Proceedings of the 5th AIRAANZ Conference, University of
Melbourne, 4-7 July 1990, pp 51-107.
Elias Ramos, "The Welga Ng Bayan as an Industrial Relations
Strategy Under Adverse Labor Market Conditions", Third
International Philippine Studies Conference, July 1989.
W Galenson, Labor and Economic Growth in Five Asian Countries,
pp 55-56, 66-68 and 72-75.
J Hutchinson, "Class and State Power in the Philippines" in K
Hewison, R Robison & G Rodan (eds), Southeast Asia in the
1990s, Allen and Unwin, 1993.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 15: THE BRITISH MODEL IN ASIA-HONG KONG
1. What are the key elements of the labour law system in
Hong Kong?
2. How do these approximate the classical British model of
collective laissez-faire?
READING
The key elements of the Hong Kong model may be obtained from
the Labour Relations Act; the Trade Union Act; and the
Employment Act (herewith).
Ng Sek Hong, "Industrial Relations and Voluntarisim: The Hong
Kong Dilemma, International Labour Review Vol 121 (1982), p
747.
J England, Industrial Relations and Law in Hong Kong, OUP,
Hong Kong, 1989, pp 159-165 and 231-239.
J Cheng (ed), Hong Kong in Transition, OUP, Hong Kong, 1986,
pp 268-299 by Ng Sek Hong).
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 2.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 16: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: THE ENIGMA OF HONG KONG
1. Why is it the case that Hong Kong has failed to develop a
collective industrial relations system?
2. Is it as a consequence of the labour law framework, or
the role of the State?
READING
H A Turner, The Last Colony: But Whose?, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1980.
Y C Jao et al, Labour Movement in a Changing Society: The
Experiences of Hong Kong, Centre of Asian Studies, University
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1988.
J England, Industrial Relations and Law in Hong Kong, 2nd ed,
Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1989.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 2.
A Pun and K Taylor, "Hong Kong: Managing Human Resources in a
Turbulent Environment, Asia Pacific Journal of Human
Resources, Vol 30, No 2, 1992, pp 10-15.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 17: THE DEVELOPMENT OF LABOUR LAW IN SINGAPORE
1. What are the key elements of the labour law system of
Singapore.
2. What aspects are derived from the British model, and what
are derived from the Australasian model?
READING
The elements of the labour law framework may be extracted from
the Industrial Relations Act; the Trade Disputes Act; and
the Trade Unions Act (herewith).
C Leggett, "Industrial Relations and Enterprise Unionism in
Singapore" (1988) 1 Labour and Industry 242.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 4.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 18: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN SINGAPORE
1. How do you explain the nature of industrial relations in
Singapore?
2. How effective has been the role of the State in
Singapore's industrial relations?
READING
B Wilkinson and C Leggett, "The Management of Compliance",
Euro-Asia Business Review Vol 4 No 3, July 1985, pp 9-15
(herewith).
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 4.
C Leggett, "Industrial Relations and Enterprise Unionism in
Singapore" (1988) 1 Labour and Industry 242.
Cheah Hock Beng, "Labour in Transition: The Case of
Singapore" (1988), Labour and Industry 258.
A Blum and S Patarapanich, "Productivity and the Path to House
Unionism: Structural Change in the Singapore Labour
Movement", British Journal of Industrial Relations, 25, 3,
1987.
J Krislov and C Leggett, "Perceptions of Conciliation in
Singapore: A Tripartite Survey", Journal of Industrial
Relations, 27, 2, 1985, pp 172-190.
B Wilkinson, in S R Clegg, D C Dunphy and S G Redding (eds),
The Enterprise and Management in East Asia, Centre for Asian
Studies, Hong Kong, 1986.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 19: LABOUR LAW IN MALAYSIA
1. What are the key elements of the labour law system in
Malaysia? Do these bear any relation to the British or
Australasian systems?
2. How important is the role of the State in Malaysian
industrial relations?
READING
The elements of the labour law system may be derived from the
Industrial Relations Act and the Trade Unions Act (herewith).
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 3.
P Arudsothy, "Labor Law and Industrial Relations in Malaysia",
Labour and Industry, Vol 1 (1988) 463.
D Ayadurai, Industrial Relations in Malaysia: Law and
Practice, Butterworths Asia, Kuala Lumpur, 1992.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 20: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN MALAYSIA - INSTITUTIONS
READING
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 3.
D Ayadurai, Industrial Relations in Malaysia: Law and
Practice, Butterworths Asia, Kuala Lumpur, 1992.
Arudsothy, Ponniah, "Labour Law and Industrial Relations in
Malaysia (1988) 1 Labour and Industry 463.
Yun Hing Ai, "Capital Transformation and Labour Relations in
Malaysia" (1990) 3 Labour and Industry 76.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 21: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN MALAYSIA:
THE IMPACT OF CULTURE AND ETHNICITY
READING
Susan Ackerman, "The Impact of Industrialisation on the Social
Role of Rural Women", in Hing Ai Yun, Nik Safiah Karim, Rokiah
Talib (eds), Women in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Pelanduk, 1984,
pp 40-60.
Alasdair Bowie, Crossing the Industrial Divide: State,
Society and the Politics of Economic Transformation in
Malaysia, 1991, Columbia University Press, Chs 4 and 5, pp 82-
152.
Hing Ai Yun, "The Development and Transformation of Wage
Labour in West Malaysia", Journal of Contemporary Asia, 15, 5,
1985, pp 139-171.
K S Jomo, Growth and Structural Change in the Malaysian
Economy, 1990, Macmillan.
R S Milne and Dianne K Mauzy, Malaysia: Tradition, Modernity
and Islam, Boulder, Westview Press, 1986. Chapter 6, "The
Economy", pp 125-151.
Wendy Smith, "A Japanese Factory in Malaysia: Ethnicity as a
Management Ideology", in K S Jomo (ed), The Sun Also Sets:
Lessons in Looking East, Kuala Lumpur, Insan, 1985, pp 278-
304.
John Stough, "Chinese and Malay Factory Workers: Desire for
Harmony and Experience of Discord", in Peter Gosling and Linda
Lim (eds), The Chinese in Southeast Asia, Vol 2, Singapore,
Maruzen Asia, 1983, pp 231-265.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 22: LEGAL FORM, CLASS AND CULTURE
IN THE ASIAN SYSTEMS
1. What are the possible explanations for Asian "difference"
in industrial relations?
2. How important is the role of the State?
3. Is culture an important explanatory variable?
4. Is it possible to make an argument based on "Asian"
difference at all?
READING
M Casson, The Economics of Business Culture, Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1991, pp 3-27.
A Thompson, "Cross Cultural Management of Labour in A Thai
Environment", Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol 6, p
323.
F L Jocarno, "Cultural-Bound Approach to Philippine Industrial
Relations: A Search for Indigenous Model", Philippine Journal
of Industrial Relations, Vol VI (1984) p 109 (and the response
to that article on pp 124 and 129 of the same volume)
(material herewith).
Australian-Asian Perceptions Project - Perceiving "Labour
Relations", Academy of Social Sciences and the Asia-Australia
Institute, Working Paper No 4,
THE UNIVERSITY of New South Wales, March 1994.
F C Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New
Asian Industrialism, University of California Press, Berkeley,
1989.
B Sharma, Aspects of Industrial Relations in ASEAN, Institute
of South East Asian Studies, Singapore, Chapter 1.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 23: STAGES OF STATE APPROACHES TO
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: A MODEL
READING
R Adams (see reading handed out for Session 4).
A Jacobs, "Collective Self-Regulation" in B Hepple (ed), The
Making of Labour Law in Europe, Mansell, London, 1986, pp 193-
241.
G Rimlinger, "Labor and the Government: A Comparative
Historical Perspective" (1977) 37 Journal of Economic History
210.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 24: APPLICABILITY OF A GENERAL DEVELOPMENTAL
MODEL TO ASIAN SYSTEMS
READING
R Adams (reading handed out for Session 4).
R Mitchell (reading handed out for Session 1).
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 25: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ASIAN SYSTEMS
We will look briefly here at some of the developments
occurring in other countries.
READING
S Biddulph and S Cooney, "Regulation of Trade Unions in the
People's Republic of China" (1993) 19 Melbourne University Law
Review 253 (herewith).
W M Moore, "China Industrial Relations: Amid the Conflict of
Tradition and Reform", Labor Law Journal, December 1989, p 747
(herewith).
D Hunter, "Chinese Labour Dispute Arbitration Procedures: An
Early Review in Zhejiang Province" (1990) 11 Comparative Labor
Law Journal 340.
A Kleingartner and H Peng, "Taiwan: An Exploration of Labour
Relations in Transition" (1991), British Journal of Industrial
Relations 427.
Deery and Mitchell, Chapter 9.
D McShane, "Asia: The Next Frontier for Trade Unions" (1992)
5 The Pacific Review 1: Taiwan Legislation (attached).
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
SECOND SEMESTER 1994
732-307 LAW AND LABOUR RELATIONS
IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM
SESSION 26: CONVERGENCE - TOWARDS WHICH MODEL?
1. What do we make now of the notion of "convergence"? Is
it true that the Western models tended to converge?
2. Is there a new model of industrial relations emerging?
What are its elements?
3. Are all systems tending to converge on the Japanese
model?
READING
R Dore, "Where Are We Now: Musings of an Evolutionist" (1989)
3 Work, Employment and Society, pp 425-446.
N Haworth (see reading for Session 3).