Experts are pointing to the lockout of employees of Qantas Airways as a signal of a possible sea change in the state of labor relations in Australia. The lockout is the culmination of two years of increased work stoppages in Australian industry on the heels of the 2009 Fair Work Act, which broadened labor unions' power to negotiate with employers. Qantas employees had threatened a full year of stoppages and other actions over pay and working conditions. The lockout is a sign that employers are beginning to fight back, and that similar actions by other companies could follow.
See "Qantas Lockout May Embolden Australia Companies on Labor Strife", Robert Fenner and Joe Schneider, Business Week, November 9, 2011