Aspects of Compulsory Intervention in Australia and Israel

The high and rapidly rising rate of work stoppages has created cortcern in many industrialised countries. The increase in industrial unrest has been accompanied by a growing public demand for greater intervention by govern ment in labour management relations. The desirability of such compulsory intervention is, however, a subject of great controversy. Israel and Australia provide a useful comparative study for the various effects of compulsory inter ventian in labour relations. The objective of this article is to compare the process, effects and effectiveness of compulsory intervention in the two countries. The conclusion is that it has not been proven that compulsory arbitration will result in a lower level of strike activity, while its introduction may result in irreversible and sometimes undesirable effects on the conduct of industrial relations.