The Transferability or Property Rights and the Scope of lndustrial Relations' Legislation: Some Lessons from the NSW Road Transport Industry

Abstract

The Industrial Relations Act (1991) of New South Wales features an addendum (Chapter 6) which has recently been the subject of a wide ranging review. Chapter 6 provides for regulation of contract rates for those owner-drivers who have an exclusive contract with a particular company. The objective of such regulation is to guarantee a minimum return to the owner-drivers' labour input reflecting the award rates for employee-drivers. In May 1993 we were commissioned by the Transport Workers Union to provide an economic assessment of Chapter 6. In this paper we make the following suggestions: that the degree of transferability of property rights over the means of production ought to be an important determinant of the scope of industrial relations legislation.