The Industrial Attitudes of Australian Private Bank Employees

Abstract

Recent years have brought considerable refinement to the analysis of white-collar unionism; the implications of the changing industrial attitudes of these employees have been particularly emphasized. This analysis has, to some degree, been con strained by a lack of empirical data. This article, in drawing on the results of a survey of Australian private bank workers, seeks to shed further light on white-collar employee attitudes. The survey revealed a number of variables relevant to the measurement of changing attitudes and also indicated the probable implications of workforce structural changes for union effectiveness. The most important variables in the measurement of industrial attitudes included position in and years ofservice to bank and 'market position' (i.e. the employee's view of his or her salary adequacy, the possibilities of retrenchment, of promotion, and of moving on to more satisfying bank work). Female bank employees were as dissatisfied as male employees with aspects of their work and were just as prepared to take industrial action. The survey data also allow for some discussion of the question of white-collar worker apathy and of the need for white-collar unions to adopt new industrial tactics in the light of rapid structural and technological changes.