Unionism in the Hunter Valley: An Exploratory Regional Study

Abstract

The strategies adopted by the Australian union movement at the national level to combat union decline and the pressures of globalisation in the eighties and nineties have been based on Cupertino, as were the strategies adopted by unions in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. The literature reveals, however, that support for Cupertino as a union strategy is far from unanimous. Moreover, to combat falling membership levels, union movements have embraced the organising model as a preferred alternative to the servicing model but, it appears, there are potential conflicts between the organising model and a co-operative strategy. The changing status, roles and strategies of Hunter Valley unions has been analysed with the assistance of data gathered from unions and employers in the region. It has been found that the decline of unionism has been somewhat less in the Hunter Region than it has been nationally but, not surprisingly, there are differences between the perceptions of union officials and human resource managers about the effectiveness of unions. The data from both sources gives some support to the importance of co-operative arrangements but raises questions about the strength of the unions' regional focus and the role of the Trades Hall Council or, at least, perceptions thereof. Concerning the adoption of the organising model, it seems that in some unions the absence of any sense of crisis for unionism has resulted in less commitment than that suggested as necessary by the literature.