Australian Council of Trade Unions

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ACTU
ACTU.png
Australian Council of Trade Unions
Founded 1927
Members ~1.8 million (2006)[1]
Country Australia
Affiliation ITUC
Key people Sharan Burrow, President
Jeff Lawrence, Secretary
Office location Melbourne, Victoria
Website www.actu.asn.au

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions representing about 1.8 million workers.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions". It was one of the earliest attempts by trade unions to apply the principles of One Big Union earlier explored by more radical syndicalist unions like the CNT or revolutionary industrial unions like the IWW.

In the Australian case, agitation for One Big Union occurred from 1911 from two different sectors: from the revolutionary Australian section of the IWW and from the pro-arbitration Australian Workers Union (AWU). At that time the AWU was the largest single Australian union. In 1918 after the collapse of the Australian IWW, a group of militant trade unions (which were opposed to the AWU) attempted to form One Big Union under the name Workers Industrial Union of Australia (WIUA). The hostility between the WIUA and the AWU prevented the formation of One Big Union in Australia. It was the attempts of Stanley Bruce's federal government in 1927 to dismantle the Australian Industrial Relations Commission which impelled the Australian trade unions to form a national council.

Melbourne Trades Hall in Victoria is the "birthplace" of the ACTU

The ACTU's Australian trade union "peak body" precursors include state labour councils like the Victorian Trades Hall Council (originating in 1856 as the 'Melbourne Trades Hall Committee'), the Labor Council of New South Wales (originally formed in 1870 as the 'Sydney Trades and Labor Council') and the Inter-Colonial Trade Union Congress (formed in 1879).

The ACTU has not achieved the ideals expressed for One Big Union: it remains a council organisation, but it does however represent the majority of Australian trade unions. At its formation in 1927 the ACTU was only seen as representing blue collar trades unions, and only managed to achieve the support of trades unions. From 1948 peak bodies of white collar associations existed, and from 1969 peak bodies of government employees. The white collar bodies were: the Council of Professional and Commercial Employees Association (1948), which became the Council of White Collar Associations (1954), which amalgamated with the Salaried Employees Consultative Council of New South Wales (1954) to become the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations (ACSPA) in 1956. The government employee bodies were: the Council of Commonwealth Public Service Organisations (1969) which became the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations (CAGEO) in 1975. The ACTU successfully integrated these bodies in 1981. After 1981 the ACTU was generally viewed by the Australian media and public as the organisation representing all workers' organisations.

Greg Combet, Former Secretary of the ACTU, speaking on 2 November 2005 shortly after the Government introduced its WorkChoices legislation into the Australian Parliament.

The ACTU and Labour Councils have often united Australian working class opinion behind certain initiatives like the eight-hour day or compulsory arbitration. In the early 1980s this unifying impulse created an accord between government, capital and labour on wages and prices. The ACTU retains a close relationship with the Australian Labor Party: former ACTU President Bob Hawke went on to become the leader of the ALP and then Prime Minister of Australia. Other former ACTU Presidents who went on to become members of Federal Parliament are: Simon Crean (president 1985-90), Martin Ferguson (1990-96), and Jennie George (1996-99). It must also be noted that the November 2007 election win by the Labor Party, saw the election of a number of union officials to the parliament (Commonwealth) including Bill Shorten (Australian Workers Union) and Greg Combet (former ACTU Secretary).

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the ACTU was influential in a move to forcibly amalgamate smaller unions into so called "super unions". The ACTU's plans envisaged 20 super unions organised on an industrial basis. While a large number of amalgamations occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s (in part under the influence of changed industrial law), there are still a large number of unions, and union coverage is often organised by historical amalgamation, not by industry.

[edit] Organisation

The ACTU holds a biennial congress that is attended by approximately 800 delegates from affiliated organisations. Between congresses the ACTU is governed by an executive of 60 members, comprising of the president, the two vice-presidents, the secretary, the assistant secretary, Trades and Labour Council representatives from each capitial city and elected delegates from affiliated unions.

[edit] Objectives

The objectives of the ACTU, as stated in its constitution, are as follows:

  • The socialisation of industry;
  • Organisation of wage and salary earners in the Australian workforce (within the trade union movement);
  • The utilisation of Australian resources to maintain full employment, establish equitable living standards which increase inline with output, and create opportunities for the development of talent.

[edit] Current Campaigns

The ACTU's main focus since the 2007 Australian federal election has been its campaign to restore workers rights under the banner of the Your Rights at Work campaign [2] In addition to this campaign the ACTU is also running a number of other campaigns, including workplace health and safety [3], working with other unions on the Your Rights at Telstra [4] campaign and supporting the Rights on Site [5] campaign.

The ACTU has also launched a service by which workers can join their applicable union directly through the ACTU. This self titled "one stop shop" for union membership is Unions Australia.[6]

In 2008 the ACTU launched a campaign to make Paid Maternity Leave a new national employment standard.[7]

[edit] Past Campaigns

Prior to 2007 the ACTU's main focus was public criticism of the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, which included an advertising campaign[8] and public rallies.[9] This campaign is known as Your Rights at Work,[10] and has been considered an outstanding success in regards to making Industrial Relations an important election issue by both marketing companies[11] and even Joe Hockey MP, the Federal Workplace Relations Minister, who said "This is the most sophisticated political plan that we have seen in Australia.".[12] One of the rallies was called Fill the "G" for which the ACTU booked the Melbourne Cricket Ground and broadcast the event to other similar rallies throughout the country, it aimed to fill the ground with protesters, an aim which it did not achieve.[13] While it may not have achieved this aim literally, more than 50,000 people is still an impressive crowd,[14] however it was not as successful as the previous national rally which had a reported attendance of 500,000 around Australia.[15][16]

[edit] The Communist Party of Australia and the ACTU

The influence of the Communist Party and the early socialist ideas of the Australian Labor Party can be seen in a resolution adopted by the ACTU on unemployment as the Great Depression of the 1930s broke: The resolution declared: "Unemployment arises out of and is inherent in the capitalist system, which is based on production for profit and not on human needs. Only the socialisation of industry (ie means of production, distribution and exchange) can remove the cause of unemployment."[citation needed]

[edit] Current member organisations

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b - Membership info from web site.
  2. ^ Your Rights at Work website
  3. ^ ACTU Health and Safety pages
  4. ^ Your Rights at Telstra website
  5. ^ Rights on Site website
  6. ^ Unions Australia website
  7. ^ ACTU Paid Maternity Leave web page
  8. ^ -Media comment on campaign
  9. ^ - Rally information from Campaign website
  10. ^ Your Rights at Work website
  11. ^ http://www.essentialmedia.com.au/CaseStudies/ACTUWorkChoices/tabid/145/Default.aspx Campaign Results
  12. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2007/s1949620.htm ABC transcript of radio interview with Joe Hockey
  13. ^ Article from "The Age"
  14. ^ -Article from "The Age"
  15. ^ url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1506727.htm Thousands protest against IR laws Australian Broadcasting Corporation 15 November 2005
  16. ^ http://theage.com.au/news/national/protesters-engulf-melbourne-cbd/2005/11/15/1132016771730.html Protesters engulf Melbourne CBD The Age 15 November 2005 Cites 175,000 as Melbourne crowd size.

[edit] External links

Organized Labour portal
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