Labour Management in the Queensland Housing Commission under a Labour Government, 1945-56

Abstract

Australian governments, especially Labor governments, have traditionally enjoyed a reputation for being 'good' employers. However; efforts to evaluate this reputation and to explore the factors shaping management strategies have been limited. This article examines these issues through a case study of the Queensland Housing Commission's management of its building workforce in the years following the Second World War. In this case, the Queensland Labor government did not use its own workforce to establish new standards and its conservative approach to labour management strategies contrasted with a more progressive approach to industrial legislation. The article draws on the notion of political contingency to explain this apparent contradiction.