Abstract:
Australian trade unions prospered for much of the last century but have suffered
membership decline since the late 1970s. The growth of unions in the earlier part of
the twentieth century has frequently been attributed to the establishment of a
centralised conciliation and arbitration system. There were, however, other
significant forces at play that contributed to union growth, including the
organisation and nature of work, the then-prevailing social values and the relative
effectiveness of trade union strategy vis-a-vis that of the employer. Similarly, the
significant decline in union membership during the 1990s was greatly influenced by
the movement away from arbitrated awards to enterprise and individually based
agreements. However, this trend was also impacted by a more sophisticated and
manipulative human resource management, a shift in employment to new nonunionised
occupations and industries, a decline in full-time employment and
significant cultural changes both within unions and the workforce generally. In this
paper, we outline the rise and fall of trade union membership over the past century
and provide insights to the phenomena. The current incidence of unionism across
various industries is examined and causal factors highlighted. Trade union strategies
for addressing their membership decline are discussed and an assessment ventured as
to the future of unions in Australia.
