Changing Roles and Strategies of Australian Trade Union

Running head: AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION
AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION
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1AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION
The respective paper is an analysis and a comparison between the changing roles and
strategies of Australian Trade Union from 1980 to the present time. The paper would also focus
the differences between labor union practices of Australia with that of India. To build the essay,
an extensive research has to be done with proper analytical skills and interpretation to bring out
the requisite answer. The labor policies of Australia and India has been highly scrutinized and
studied in order to frame the contrasts and differences in the paper.
It is evident that Australian Trade Unions have played a big role in shaping the position
of the proletariats and the working classes of Australia. The Australian Council of Trade Unions
is a member of the international platform of International Trade Union Confederation (Linden,
2017). The objectives and the aims of Australian Council of Trade Unions revolves around
seeking for socialization of industries and utilizing Australian resources for generating full and
secured employment, build an equitable standard of work by providing equal opportunities to all
workers, irrespective of class, race and gender for the development and enhancement of their
talent ( Linden, 2017). However, there is a rich and prolific history of Australia’s labor union in
addressing the troubles and drawbacks of the nation regarding its treatment with the proletariat,
working classes and the employees of the nation.
Comparison of the strategies of Australian Trade Union (1980 to the present)
From the year 1980 to the present time, Australian Trade Union has been largely
revisited, modified and updated according to the economic, political, socio-economic and socio-
political situations of the nation. It has to be understood that, economic upheaval and structural
changes in economy was the most customary and primary reason for the changes in the labor
unions of Australia (Ellem, 2013). By the year 1980-1981, the white collar job holders of

2AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION
Australia had entered into the trade unions and other organizations that traditionally relentlessly
worked for the proletariats, the blue collar job holders and the working classes of Australia.
However, such drastic change in the population composition of Australia’s Trade Union might
have been caused due to the white collar militancy and market profits in working conditions. In
1981, the white collar job holders were composed of approximately 48% of all the members of
the unions or unionists, which was earlier only 28% in 1969. However, an important
characteristic can be traced in the evolution of strategies, policies and environment of the
Australian Trade Unions in the beginning of 1980s; the workforce and the Australian Union
movement was observed to be becoming more feminized with a subsequent increase in number
of women in their demography. The representation of women in the Union movements,
organizations and activities marked the freedom, growth and development of Australian women
workers since the year 1980 (Curtin, 2018). By the year 1980 in Australia, most of the
breadwinners and the earners of the families were the women which is a reflection of the
development and progression of the Australian society which enabled women to be financially
independent and economically strong similar to men. The strategies that the Australian labor
union took that enabled the women to win the seat of the union as new members were white
collar job holders. The Australian Trade Union appointed every one woman for all four men at
the designation of Federated Clerks of the Union. The representation of women in the Australian
Labor Union was indeed a progressive action taken by the Australian labor forces as the women
representatives were the ones who best understood and comprehended the problems faced by the
women laborers, workers and proletariats (Ledwith, 2012). The women workers of Australia had
faced certain obnoxious issues throughout generation which included inhuman conditions of
work, sexual and physical harassment in the workplaces, and low wage in spite of working