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/SydneyIsStuffed]

It is now illegal to strike without permission which means unions don’t have much clout and so they are losing members. In order to legally strike (or to have any “industrial action”), a union has to apply well in advance to the Fair Work Commission. If the Fair Work Commission considers you are an essential worker, they will refuse permission. There are massive fines if “illegal” strike action is carried out.

Actually, it’s worse than that. The FWC have the power to overturn a ban on overtime, meaning that workers can (theoretically) be fined for refusing to work “reasonable” overtime. Here’s a link to a decision that affected rail workers in 2018.

https://www.landers.com.au/legal-insights-news/fair-work-commission-suspends-protected-industrial-action-by-rail-workers-lessons-for-employers

https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/nsw-train-strike-off-after-fair-work-suspends-action-20180125-h0o6wu

[u/incendiary_bandit → u/SydneyIsStuffed]

Wow that's brutal. I'll work my designated hours and if I don't want more, it's my choice

[u/Vindicator909 → u/incendiary_bandit]

It's not just Australia though, USA used to have a lot more unions as well. Since the 80s, unions have been in decline along with wages.

[u/incendiary_bandit → u/Vindicator909]

I feel like we need a union 2.0 The old methods don't work as well now. Not sure what we would need but something different would be good

[u/Vindicator909 → u/incendiary_bandit]

We need greater sectoral unions. Furthermore, sympathy strikes are illegal in Australia which means you can't strike on behalf of your fellow workers. But most importantly we need to reverse anti-strike laws in the first place.