Abstract
In December 1979 the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations (ACSPA), the largest white-collar union peak council, disbanded and most of its affiliates transferred to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Two years later, the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations (CAGEO), the federal public sector peak council, also disbanded and all of its members affiliated with the ACTU. This paper analyses the merger of these three union peak councils. The thrust of the paper is to explain why the mergers were successfully carried through. It is argued that while the explanation lies in a number of considerations, such as the convergence of political and economic forces, the roles played by a number of key officials were of prime importance. We commence with a brief description of ACSPA and CAGEO and of the merger process.1 The literature on union mergers is reviewed to provide a framework of analysis that is then applied to the merger of ACSPA and CAGEO with the ACTU.
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