Class struggle in the public service: class and labour process in the Australian Public Service

Abstract

The body of the thesis is divided into three parts: overview and clarification of theoretical issues - chapter 1, 2 and 3; some developments in the Australian Public Servie (APS) labour process since 1945 - chapters 4 and 5; public service employee organisation, chapter 6.

Chapter 1 provides an outline of the empirical scope of the thesis and a statistical overview of state employment in Australia.

Chapter 2 considers marxist theories which have a bearing on the questions in hand. Therborn’s 1978 essay “Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Class character of the State Apparatus” which directly addresses the central concerns of the thesis is examined. It is criticised for its inadequate understanding of the distinction between state and civil society, shared by many other marxist analyses, which leads to a replacement of concepts of historical materialism by those of orthodox social science, when the internal structure of the state is being analysed. The critique of Therborn leads to the conclusion that the nature of class relations within the state must be the basis for further analysis of the state’s internal structure. These class relations are explored by taking up the debate on the "new middle class", initiated by Poulantzas. He maintains that state employees are members of the new petty bourgeoisie rather than proletarian, because they do not perform productive labour. The related critiques of Poulantzas by Carchedi and Wright point out the inadequacy of the productive/unproductive labour criterion and his contradictory use of other criteria (political and ideological roles). Carchedi's own approach, which identified workers, members of the new middle class and bourgeoisie amongst' state employees is adopted and applied to the classifications structure of the APS.

Carchedi's analysis opens the way to considering the APS as a labour process. Chapter 3 established some specific characteristics of the APS labour process through an exposition and application of Edwards' theory of internal labour markets.

Part II examines the recent history of class relations in the APS on the basis of the approach elaborated in Part I. Chapter 4 considers the developments from 1945 to the late 1960's and their continuing relevance. The main aspects are: the relationship between staff ceilings and economic conditions (early 1950's); joint consultation (1945 to around 1955); "scientific management" (1948 to the present); and the automation of the public service (early 1960's to the present).

Chapter 5 is concerned with developments since the late 1960's. The implications of the present crisis and staff ceilings are discussed. The majority of the chapter deals with work humanisation schemes, briefly examining international trends and then considering the course of their development in Australia. The final part of the chapter considers different marxist approaches to work and the role of behayioura1 science as an ideology.

Chapter 6 is an assessment of Australian public service trade unions in the context of socialist strategy, The evolution of the Administrative and Clerical Officers' Association and Australian Public Service Association is briefly outlined as a background to the activities of the two left groupings inside them, The experiences of the groups are used to throw light on the potential role of public servants in a socialist strategy. Show more