To the bitter end: the 1977 State Electricity Commission of Victoria maintenance workers’ dispute

This thesis describes and analyses the 1977 State Electricity Commission of Victoria maintenance workers’ dispute. The dispute is examined within its complex local, state and federal context, including relevant economic, political and industrial factors. While the dispute over the log of claims was expected to be a minor event, the actions of the SECV over a more emotive issue, that of contract labour, provided the trigger for a strike which was ill-advised in its broader context.

The narrative of the dispute is enhanced by the inclusion of material from interviews of participants bringing subjectivity to an account otherwise derived from documentary sources. These interviews also indicated three themes which come out in the narrative: the control over the dispute by the rank and file, the extensive support for the dispute from the community, and the effect of the Melbourne-LV divide.  The latter operated across the unions and their members, between the local and the state peak councils, and within the SECV.

In order to add to our understanding of lengthy disputes, the events of 1977 are analysed using Kelly’s Mobilisation Theory. This provides a greater focus on social relationships and interactions than traditional methods of industrial relations analysis. In particular, it provides a means of incorporating the local industrial identity when considering those factors which impact on the origin and continuation of disputes.

An analysis of the origins and development of this significant regional industrial dispute adds much to our understanding of regional labour history in the Latrobe Valley, as well as making a contribution to the literature on the causes of lengthy Australian disputes.

She received glowing reports from her PhD thesis assessors.
Congratulations also to her supervisors Karen Crinall and Margaret Somerville.

See below for a description of her project:

The possibilities of seachange: A study of urban to rural migration, self and place in Gippsland

Many studies of seachange propose that people are influenced by a narrative that portrays country places as a rural idyll. It has become an easy explanation for seachanger motivations, however, it obscures as much as it explains. It provides a limited understanding of the role of place; how a country place enables change; or how people incorporate place into their stories of self. This thesis takes explanations of seachange and country places beyond the rural idyll. Seachange opens up spaces for other ways to think and to be. Where we are influences who we can be and how we know. Seachange is about the dynamic relationship between and within stories, people and places and the meaning that is created through that relationship.

Jacqui, who has done extensive sessional work in Psychological Studies, is about to submit her PhD. She will take up this  two year teaching and research position in the School from the start of Semester 2 2011.

The School congratulates Jacqui on gaining this prestigious fellowship!

Depression is one of the chief health issues facing the developed world and there remains disagreement within the medical community about its treatment vis-à-vis the ethics and effectiveness of psychotherapeutic versus medicinal interventions. In his book The Ethical Treatment of Depression: Autonomy Through Psychotherapy Dr Biegler argues that whilst medication is effective in treating the symptoms of depression, doctors also have an ethical responsibility to prescribe cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, for patients with depression.

The findings of Dr Biegler’s research have the potential to alter current treatment paradigms, which can focus on the disease itself rather than the “whole” person of the patient.

The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the most prestigious and coveted awards in Australian science. Every scientist knows a “Eureka” moment comes only after decades of singular dedication and enquiry. Receiving an Australian Museum Eureka Prize is regarded as a pinnacle of achievement for any Australian scientist.

It is especially pleasing to see that two of the three finalists in this category were Monash Arts staff, the other being Dr Robert Sparrow, also from the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, who was short-listed for his work on the ethics of the “new genetics”.

For more information see the award site and Dr Biegler’s and Dr Sparrow’s profiles.