Australian Trade Union Movement - Case Study Example

Introduction

During 1980s and 1990s, many countries have experienced important changes in their labour market institutions, especially in those, which have impinged on working conditions. In Australia, these changes started a decade earlier with the profound transformation in labour market. The tribunal-based systems of conciliation and arbitration have appeared to play less pivotal role and the system of industrial awards became less central to the determination of wages and conditions. The changes in legislative area have created greater scope for employers to introduce employment agreements as the supplement or replacement awards. Trade unions structures have also been changed, where the members as the proportion of the workplace fell from fifty per cent to twenty-eight. While there have been three hundred different trade unions in 1970s-1990s, today they constitute relatively small number of craft-based unions with more concentrated in the handful of large industry (Wooden, Drago & Hawke, 2000). As the union movement loses its previous importance for public and private sector and there are fewer passionate unionists and union officials left in Australia, the question arises whether these people are able to hold today’s union movement together? Costa and Hearn (1997), consider that the fate of trade unions is now resigned and it is related to their gradual extinction. This paper aims to discuss such statement and investigate the challenges for Australian trade unions and whether they can act strategically in the future.

Changing role of trade unions in Australia

In the sustainable development and democracy, labour movement is given the major role and it is the role of trade unions, which can bring a unique contribution to the development of community. Their purpose is complex as unions are involved in the economic systems pf production and distribution, they are able to impact the course and content of employment and the members of trade unions are accountable with a considerable experience in organising more vulnerable sections in the society. While the last decades has been marked by the changes in social, political, economic and technological spheres, so is the impact made on trade unions all around the world (Cradden & Hall-Jones, n.d.). The particular attention was given to the decline of trade unions across the globe. Typically, scholars are focused on the relationship of trade union with either business cycle, domestic institutions or social and demographic changes. Other researchers are focused on the relationship between strike and union density.

The history of Australian trade union movement is not the single narrative, but the product of countless stories, which highlight the different factors that underpinned growth and which contributed to the demise of unions (Bowden, 2011). Partially, the decline of trade unions can be explained by changes in the industrial composition of employment of Australia over years, the growth of part-time employment and casual involvement of work force. It is also the role of the relative decline of public sector employment in influencing trade unions role in Australia.

At the same time, changes in management strategy and as a result changes in product markets have impacted the changes in the union strategy (Wooden & Sloan, 1998). In Australia, the shift away from the sectoral and national bargaining to the enterprise-based bargaining has resulted retardation of unions performance. While in the mid-1980s, the trade union movement was embarked on the structural and strategic change, such change led to the number of internal structural changes in the movement partially because of the selection of the Labour government at the national level. This in the end have led Australia’s trade union to experience decline. However, if to compare them with the others on the international arena, the fact is that Australia’s trade unions had stronger level of union representation of the working population (Wever & Turner, 1995). Thus, the rapid process of amalgamations made by Australian Council of Trade Unions as a single trade union confederation in 1980s resulted growth of Australian unionism, particularly, the increase in the number of large unions. Sano and Williamson (2008), state that union density decline in Australia was the result of law enacted in 1991, which was the trigger of changing of bargaining process. After that year, individuals created agreements on the contractor basis and such decentralization took power away from unions, who could bargain at the industry level. In fact, the law gave power to the contractors and those employers could set own prices.

Challenges for trade unions

When in 1996 the government of Australia experienced changes, the union movement was in deep decline. The formal system of arbitration and awards was stripped away by the labour markets and at the state level, legislation was adverse for unions promoting non-union forms of bargaining. The Labour was in power on the federal level. That time unions were not prepared to changes, such as move from the tribunals. They have developed structures and strategies, which reflected the needs of engagement within the system of arbitration. At the same time, unions had possibility to delegate representatives in most workplaces, however, they were not activists, but were characterized by membership. Here, they were weak in organising the appropriate workplace and gained little in interaction with business (Teicher, 2013). One of the greatest challenges for trade unions appeared in 1996 when the new Workplace Relations Act was in place. It allowed the creation of the official individual contracts and what more the new Act prohibited the remaining compulsory arrangements of unions introducing new opportunities for penalties and damages claims against unions. Such severe legislation was the biggest challenge for unions in Australia removing at the same time their influence on the workplace, need for internal restructuring and renewal at the workplace (Fairbrother & Yates, 2013).

Australian trade union movement: a part of problem or solution

The need to fundamentally change the way unions operated appeared in the late 1990s and proposed by the leadership of Australian Council of Trade Unions. When the leadership change at the ACTU took place, it helped to consolidate a consideration about further movement of unionism in Australia. It was the start for union to come to grips with the outcomes and change labour markets. Thus, Campbell (2004), states that whether unions remain strong, the action in the workplace was important, however, no considerable progress on single-employer bargaining was present and little evidence existed to decline in the capacity to exercise workplace. At the same time, the importance of unions for Australians was emphasised by the ACTU president, who states that while citizens wish to live in the country with strong economy that works for everyone and where people can have a secure job, the purpose of unions is to help in organising necessary conditions for that. Moreover, it is the future of trade unions in improving the lives of members. However, the problem becomes apparent with that as while unions do what they do, the unemployment rates reached the highest level in over a decade calling for critique of appropriateness of actions of unions. Such passiveness of unions can be explained through social weight of trade unions, which is a weak in the current time. Moreover, it is proved that union coverage dropped below forty per cent for the last hundred years and is collapsing still. This is because influence in politics, social wage problems and cutting real wages (Humphrys & Tietze, 2014).

The ACTU president comments on the future of trade unions as promising but not immune from the difficulties and challenges, which counterparts experience in the same way. The reasons for decline are established as legislation changes as well as inability to understand structural change, employer hostility and member dissatisfaction (Not down and not out- Australian unions’ response to a changing world, 1997).

For that reason, trade unions should prepare appropriate and deserving response. They unlike dinosaurs are able to adapt and change in response to the changing environment. The ACTU considers that for that purpose, unions should involve a recognition that workers join unions and stay as their members because they believe in the benefit of union for the workplace. For that reason, unions should pay more attention to the workplace and approach particular needs of specific groups of employees taking into account movement’s responsibility to the community. Peetz (2015), states that while the period of rise of trade unions has passed, the institution of unions still works and moreover, it helps in maintaining employees’ share by campaigning for wage increases and the overall improvements of employment conditions. In addition, unions are used their connections with the Australian Labour Party to secure legislation and creation of arrangements for employees on favourable conditions. In 2006-2007, the union movement experienced its greatest success over the last decades. Here, the Your Rights at Work campaign was aimed to build up sufficient opposition to government initiative WorkChoices. While defeating the government, the Australian union movement reached progress. At the same time, the performance of unions is not considered as equally important to all workers as it represents only seventeen per cent of employees and fails to grow a sufficient rate in order to match the growth in the workforce (Peetz, 2015). It is also a problem in terms of rising inequality and declining worker power because unions have limited power. Their reducing role in the working of government also impacts the way they can perform their functions.

Future of trade unions

The future of trade unions in Australia is promising as increase of work intensity and working hours and thus greater resistance of employees grows and they should address their concerns to the certain institutions. Here, unions give such opportunity along with the industrial actions, which would help employees to solve their disputes. Peetz (2015), states that in order to satisfy the workers’ needs, trade unions can use the power resources. These key resources include internal solidarity, network embeddedness, narrative resources and such resources and human, material and process and policies. As ACTU operates in the context where old approaches to protecting workers’ right do not work anymore, they should develop and make new strategic decisions evaluating the campaigns of trade unions they took and use positive outcomes of public protest to increase their meaning and importance. Hyman (2002), states that in the new century, trade unions confronted with old dilemmas but performing in the new forms should understand whose interests they represent. The other point to consider relates to question “which” interests to represent. Here, unions can no longer apply traditional core agenda of collective bargaining over wages and benefits. They cannot also represent employers’ arbitrary authority and underwrite employment protection. Unions should also consider the role of government and legislative norms, which shape modern circumstances of labour market. Following all the considerations, trade unions should be able to discover new language, which would help them to express aspirations and projects relevant to the current conditions.