Australian Council Of Trade Unions
Uploaded by cainen on Mar 31, 2002
“Research the history, structure and activities of the Australian Council of Trade Unions as Australia’s peak union body. How is this body responding to the issues of declining membership and other changes in the workplace which have occurred within the last 10 years?”
Introduction
The Australian Council of Trade Unions or ACTU is Australia’s dominant association and governing body of the trade union movement in Australia. It is the only peak council and national centre which represents the Australian Workforce. The ACTU plays a substantial role in Australian politics. It is the representative of organised labour in wage negotiations with businesses and federal parliament. Although not officially affiliated with it, the ACTU maintains a strong association with the Australian Labor Party. The ACTU consists of 46 affiliated unions throughout Australia. Each state of Australia has a branch of the ACTU. Generally, these are called Labor Councils.
The ACTU speaks on behalf of most workers in most types of work including those in manufacturing, finance, government and the service sectors. Most of the ACTU’s policies and operational decisions are generally made through a democratic process, which takes place at a couple of gatherings:
An Executive of around 50 people who meet two or three times each year, this includes representatives from every union, ACTU officers, youth and indigenous representatives.
A Congress of around 800 delegates who represent all of ACTU’s affiliates which is held about every three years.
A Brief History
The Australian Council of Trade Unions was established in May of 1927. On May 3rd, 1927 at the Interstate Trade Union Congress a motion was put forward by the Sydney Trades and Labour Council, the Melbourne Trades Hall Council and United Trades and the Labor Council of South Australia, saying that they wanted an, “all Australian Council of Trade Unions.” This resulted in the creation of the Australian Council of Trade Unions or ACTU.
A committee of seven was elected and their role was to set out the goals and structure of the Council. Issues that affected the whole trade union movement were dealt with by delegates from affiliated unions of the ACTU. The ACTU was a very small under-resourced organisation for many years after its initial creation.
Structure
Up until recently the Australian Council of Trade Unions has had five elected full-time officers. Last year, the ACTU decided to reduce this number to four after the resignation of two officers. The ACTU now has a President, a Secretary...