Trade Unionism in 2003

Abstract

In 2003 Australian trade unions continued the campaign to improve employees’ ability to balance work and family responsibilities. This, along with push for the introduction of ‘industrial manslaughter’ legislation, was the key industrial priority of the year. During the year, unions witnessed a political changing of the guard. There were no union tears when Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, departed the industrial relations scene. On the other side of politics, Mark Latham was elevated to the leadership of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. While his candidature was not strongly supported by union leaders, Latham has won himself a number of union admirers since his election. Despite the enthusiasm for revitalising the union movement exhibited at the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Organising Conference, statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released in 2003 showed that both union density and aggregate membership had slipped. The biggest ‘organising story’ of the year was the disintegration of the joint union campaign to reorganise the Pilbara, which in 2003 fell victim to competitive union pressure.