More Lessons of the Accord: The 1986–87 Plumbers’ Union Dispute

The early phases of the Price and Incomes Accord sought to constrain money-wage increases in order to reduce the rate of inflation. Despite this, in 1986 and 1987 the Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees’ Union of Australia engaged in industrial action to pressure employers into increasing wages. Using this case study, we examine the capacity for individual trade union agency for wage increases in the context of Accord Mark II. The article draws on document analysis combined with interviews with six of the dispute’s key actors and close observers. It finds that trade union agency was quashed by various political and industrial actors and institutions. This threatened the financial survival of the NSW Australian Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees’ Union, which faced legal sanctions during the dispute.