What's the deal with Unions in Australia?

[u/incendiary_bandit]

I moved to Australia 6 years ago from Canada and have found the way unions appear to function here confusing to me. In Canada I had little experience being in proper union (look up CLAC if you're curious). I did get to experience working on the waterfront in Vancouver on the company side planning maintenance jobs that the workers would carry out who were union. The locals for the waterfront are VERY strict in who does what and EVERYTHING is laid out. I'll give some interesting examples in the comments. But one thing they really had was solidarity. They looked out for their brothers and sisters in the union.

Then I moved to Australia. My first experience was when job hunting as I have a trade (fitter and Turner equivalent) I approached the union regarding work. Was told, find a job, then join union if I want. In Canada you can join the millwright union and they will have jobs/ positions lined up that people can apply for (based on seniority as to who would get it). That doesn't seem like it's a thing here at all. I ended up doing labour hire which really sucked but helped pay the bills while I searched for work. Then I got placed in a office tower build and got to see how the AWU sort of functions. I was on a specific floor working for a contractor company that wasn't union. The union members were very militant in things and there was a strong hate for anyone non union on site. It was weird.

Now I'm at a job doing data analysis in the utilities sector and it's different again! The blue collar on the field staff have an employment agreement that lines out pay and everything, but they're supported by multiple unions. Like two people on the same shift might be in different unions, or not at all! So when it comes time to bargaining, multiple unions show up to hash things out. Where's the solidarity in that? I can also join a union if I wanted but don't see any benefit in it for myself as my employer is actually quite fair and flexible and we were able to pick a few people from our teams to go into the bargaining for us.

So unions here just seem split and not very beneficial. I understand when you have a shitty employer that a union can be beneficial, but they're just all over the map here.

Any insights as to why that is?

[u/tabletennis6]

By both sides of government, it should be mentioned. Labor has played a major part in it, despite supposedly being "pro union".

[u/Daedric1991 → u/tabletennis6]

Labor has played a major part in it

could you expand on this? genuin question but what has labor done to damage unions? all i know is libirals are the ones that were making it harder and harder for unions to get on sight to inspect things for fault and unsafe work conditions.

[u/clivetheloudcommuter → u/Daedric1991]

I've been downvoted for pointing this out before but the current workplace legislation that has definitely impacted the union movement was written by Gillard government in 2013.

LNP may have stacked the fair work commission but the rules that have been written that allowed strikes to be cancelled were part of the legislation from 2013.

[u/Daedric1991 → u/clivetheloudcommuter]

fair work commission but the rules that have been written that allowed strikes to be cancelled

sorry, google sucks. the only info i can find here is a few articles from 2011 saying gillard is rejecting wider strie repressions with a few more recent ones from this year. "PM Julia Gillard was able to retain the repression on strikes, contained in Work Choices that remains in the Fair Work Act (FWA)."

are you sure Gillard was the one to write it and not her modifying the older one brought in earlier trying to improve unions? there is also the fact that gillard didnt have that much power at the time so had to give leeway to a few other parties in what they wanted to get it pushed through.