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The mythology of 'staff' employment : a weapon of mass construction Hearn Mackinnon, Bruce 2004, The mythology of 'staff' employment : a weapon of mass construction, in AIRAANZ 2004 : Proceedings of the 18th Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand Conference : new economies: new industrial relations, Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand, Waikato, NZ, pp. 246-253. Title The mythology of 'staff' employment : a weapon of mass construction Author(s) Hearn Mackinnon, Bruce Conference name Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand. Conference (18th : 2004 : Noosa, Qld) Conference location Noosa, Queensland Conference dates 3-6 Feb. 2004 Title of proceedings AIRAANZ 2004 : Proceedings of the 18th Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand Conference : new economies: new industrial relations Editor(s) Barry, Michael Brosnan, Peter Publication date 2004 Conference series Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand Conference Start page 246 End page 253 Publisher Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand Place of publication Waikato, NZ Summary This paper explores the use of symbols and myths by management of Rio Tinto as important components of their weaponry for implementing a de-unionisation program throughout their Australian operations. The special use of language, categorisations and generalisations, have been crucial to the company’s successful implementation of “staff” employment. The ability of management to challenge and undermine traditional mythologies and develop new ones has been an essential ingredient in the company’s recipe for success in its efforts to deunionise its workforce. In particular, the paper explores management’s skill in promoting either the equalisation or differentiation aspects of “staff” employment. The paper concludes that one of the distinguishing features of “staff” employment has been it’s ability to promote the appearance of equalisation while actually leading to an enhanced differentiation of power between workers and managers. Notes Reproduced with the specific permission of the copyright owner. ISBN 090929190X Language eng Field of Research 150306 Industrial Relations Socio Economic Objective 970115 Expanding Knowledge in Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services HERDC Research category E1 Full written paper - refereed Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30005369 Document type: Conference Paper Collection: School of Management and Marketing Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 11 Feb 2009, 14:09:41 EST Fri, 12 Jun 2009, 10:26:28 EST Fri, 30 Apr 2010, 13:00:46 EST Fri, 30 Apr 2010, 13:07:54 EST Fri, 30 Apr 2010, 13:08:35 EST Wed, 04 Sep 2013, 11:57:11 EST Thu, 05 Sep 2013, 09:26:07 EST Filtered Full Access Statistics: 449 Abstract Views, 261 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 07 Jul 2008, 09:48:51 EST

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