Abstract
Successive governments, particularly in the Anglo-American world, have sought to redefine the state by redrawing the boundaries between the public and private sectors, with marked implications for trade unions. One consequence of this process is that relations between unions and governments are reforged. In Australia, governments have initiated comprehensive processes of corporatisation and privatisation. One result is that previously close and often informal partnership arrangements (in the case of Labor governments) have changed. This type of institutional reorganisation prompts a reassessment of union-government relations as well as a complex working out of new modes of governance. This article explores these themes in relation to public transport in two Australian states: New South Wales and Victoria.
Highlights
The Australian state has been dramatically restructured over the last three decades
We examine the recent history of public transport unions in two Australian states: Victoria and New South Wales (NSW)
The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has been led by moderate leaders who come from a long tradition of working with governments, lobbying and promoting their interests via political rather than industrial means
Summary
The Australian state has been dramatically restructured over the last three decades. In the context of increasing difficulties with private capital accumulation, growing trade union militancy in the state sector and a shift in government ideology, governmentshave begun to impose more stringent financial regimes on state services and restructure their provision. The RTBU has been led by moderate leaders who come from a long tradition of working with governments, lobbying and promoting their interests via political rather than industrial means Both state unions (and their predecessors) were affiliated to the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and had both formal and informal mechanisms at their disposal to raise questions and seek policy initiatives. (RTBU NSW Official, 8 February 2005) The Government campaign and its broader approach to the corporatised transport services were not forgotten by the union As governments, both Labor and Liberal, have depoliticised their relationships with public transport services, paradoxically the union branches have opened up more space within which to organise.
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