Growth and Decline in Size and Density of Australian Trade Unionism.

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Growth and Decline in Size and Density of Australian Trade Unionism

        Australian trade unionism has seen a general growth in the size and density prior to the 1980s, which from that decade onwards has continually produced a negative membership growth till the present day. Australia started as a convict settlement along with free settlers owning slaves on their property, which set the trend of employment relationship between the employer and employee. The employer had complete power and advantage over the employee. To obtain equality, employees formed trade unions. Thus, up until the 1980s, Australian trade unions have been laying out the basic foundations for workplace employment. Due to recent changes in the Australian economic environment, the trade unions have failed to adjust to these changes and have suffered consequently through its decline in union membership.

On 26th January 1788 Australia was officially settled. The majority of the settlers were convicts who were used as workers to develop Australia in which their struggles were a lead up to the birth of unionism in Australia. Some notable instances included were: 1791 - a convicts strike demanding daily issue of rations; 1804 - Castle Hill Rebellion where convicts protested on conditions and rations (ACTU website 387). A clear relationship developed amongst the community whereby the employer had complete authority over the employees. Not only was this seen in the convict settlement but also with free settlers making use of slaves.

        As Australia began to find new areas of trade such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, metal and maritime the relationship between employer and employee remained the same. Job security at the time was high due to the scarcity of unemployed labour and the still infant Australian population. Employees thus would take the gamble with their job security to attempt and obtain more advantages through joining a union (Peetz, 1998 p.118).

Unions in the sector of agriculture, maritime and mining were only possible because of the large scale employment of labour. The employees would form collectively with a common goal to achieve in forth to become a major threat to the employer as the employees controlled the production line. Industrial actions by employees ‘collectively’ would be a major threat to employers as they saw their profits dwindle. But not only was it an advantage for employees collectively negotiating through a trade union, there was an advantage for employers. In a unitarist approach, the employer could deal with same problem at ‘one fell swoop’ instead of individually consulting each employee costing valuable time.

        During the times of the labour movement, the government created the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act: compulsory arbitration in 1904 (ACTU website 334). The aim was to make workplaces more productive by making them better places to work. Thus, in a situation whereby a worker or an employer had a problem, it could be settled by having to go forth before the Industrial Relations Commission. Through the arbitration court system, many bills were created and imposed to meet the needs of employees and employers on a broader perspective meaning that it benefited the parties as a whole and did not meet the individual needs. Such broad scaled legislative acts put into effect ranged from: higher wages for employees; greater safety workplace environments; equity of sexes at work; regulation of working hours; and improvements in working conditions (ACTU website 287,334).

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In essence the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act forced employers to negotiate with Australian trade unions who gave employees a possible equal stance with their employers. Trade unions could win enforceable rights that the employers would not willingly grant. The advantage the trade unions had were attractive to many employees since they could see that trade unions brought them many desirable outcomes, and hence union membership rose. This is typified in the hard labour sections where employees were uneducated and under-skilled. Employers would take full advantage of their employees and offer much lower wages and poorer working conditions, but with ...

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