ABSTRACT
For much of the twentieth century, Australian industrial relations were dominated by a strong, centralised arbitration model. This model, enshrined in legislation in 1904, had a number of foundations. Among the most important of these for unions were the formal registration of industrial organisations, including trade unions, and the granting of exclusive jurisdiction over specified segments of the workforce to these registered organisations; the ability of these registered organisations to have a wide range of claims, including claims for improved wages and working conditions, arbitrated by a third-party tribunal external to the employment relationship; and the legal enforcement of decisions of this tribunal, establishing, inter alia, minimum wages and conditions for specified classes of employees. Based on this legislative framework, trade unionism in Australia thrived. Density was usually above 50 per cent and its power and influence, both in the polity and in the economy, were widely accepted and supported. Commencing in the 1980s, however, significant changes occurred, with new work methods, new attitudes and new laws severely and adversely affecting unions. Membership has plummeted and union power and influence evaporated. Unions have been slow to respond to these changes. The initial response in the 1980s was to negotiate in 1983 a social contract, known as the Accord, with the federal Labor government. This Accord lasted until the electoral defeat of the Labor government in 1996, but well before then the union movement had realised that this contract was not the response to declining membership and authority. The second major strategic response was a wave of union mergers during the early 1990s. The failure of this strategy to stem the decline led to the third and current strategy of adopting the ‘organising model’, with an emphasis on organisation and interaction at the workplace level. For many unions, this is a novel experience, not least because of the necessity to share authority and power within the union and, not surprisingly, not all unions have successfully adopted this strategy.
