Trade Unions in Australia
Introduction
In the fastest way of our living, we are still experiencing the trades and business in our life, for the development of not only ones status in life but the whole country in general. Being connected in the daily life of the trade, it is undoubtedly part of trades is the trade union which is association of the labors and are limited in the membership of the people in similar trade (Yahoo Dictionary, 2008). This is also the employees’ organizations which are collectively acting in the protection mutually which has the concerned and assistance to the condition and wages of the employment. These unions are also workers’ representation in connecting to the government and to the employers. These are also offering services which include the finances, dental care, scholarships and the health services (Gold fish, 2008).
The trade unions can also affect the performance of the organization it its all aspect of the business as in the management which is the improvement in the evolvement and the industry where the business is currently under. The Australian Industry is facing the multiple and responsibility in the government and to the federal. In this case the employees are also responsible in the governmental policy that had been implemented (Bray M et. al., 2005, p. 62). In this case, the most prominent and well-known labour organization in Australia and to the other part of the world is the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). The country had been formed since 1927 and recorded to have 50 other affiliated unions. In this manner, same as to the other labour organization trends in other countries, the membership of the union had been decreasing even at the last part of the 21st century (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008).
In the past decade and until recently, Australia had encountered different changes when it comes to its trade unions. The changes on this association is the decentralization in the structure of formal bargaining which had been involved in the continuous growth of the decentralized agreements as the non-collective agreements, enterprise agreements and the individual agreement. The country also experience the fall of the trade membership of the trade unions. This issue recorded the half of the entire workers and had been falls of about 18 and up to 19 percent. This arena also made to have the change in the union structure of the trade and the declination of the industrial disputation (Sappy, R et. al. 2006, p. 69).
Challenges of the Organization
The year 1996 had been the critical year in the trade unions of Australia. This is because this is season wherein the union had recorded sudden declination of the on the number of membership loss. This also been acknowledge that the decrease is the number to the state of the unions in France and to the United States for having the no greater than 10% in its workforce. This is most fundamental and the first time that the organization is facing this challenge which had reduced the number of the workforce expansion. In this year also is the first time that the union faced the level of State, the Federal, and the Territory can have the legislation to have a serious damage while having the goal of reducing the movement of the union in the insignificant force in Australia. For the record of 20 unions, it had been recorded of about one third of which are still maintaining and the rest are declining. The growing union includes the engineers, nurses, retail workers, and the scientist. The decrease of the number of membership had been reasoned out as the declination of the number of the changing workforce which also includes the composition. It additionally had been found that the root is also because of the fewer in the number of large employers in the traditional and past industries and to the greater number of medium and small size of the enterprise. The final conclusion on the root of declination is the greater number of workers while having the smaller number of the public sector in the casual and in the part-time employment. The reason why the union cannot stern or grows of the membership loss is because of the validity wherein there is no sufficient reason for the inevitable acceptance of the membership number of unions in Australia. In this area, the other unions are still optimistic to grow their workforce alongside. The unions in having successful in the delivering quality of services in the entire country are being experienced by other but this is not always possible in the unions having the substantial orientation on the state. These unions therefore are preparing themselves in the taking strategic approach regarding the future plans (Australian Council of Trade and Unions, 1997).
Significantly, the major hindrance of the unions is the strategic movement that they need to offer as the services they have to offer which also the value that can attract the workers in just 0 and above per year to become the member in the union. Attracting the people to become member in the unions is the hardest part that is why they think of the best strategy as the expanding the benefits which includes the free legal advice, the purchasing discount, low cost loans on home, cheap travel, and the discounted dental and medical services. This obviously added value but still it is bit sufficient for the detainment and attraction to the number of the new members. The union needs to have the structures on the services that they need to provide to their members as the increase in the assistance and to the wages, advice on the safety and health, improved the ob security, better superannuation, and the collective protection given as problem arises in the employer. In this case the, rebuilding of the enterprise on the local structure base representative and to the sub-branches of the unions. The membership also needs to have the relevant information at the high end quality that can enable then in representing the members interest in the employers interest. There is also increase in the variation in the midst of the enterprise and the agreed outcomes (Ibid).
There are also other factors that can challenge the trade unions of Australia as the enormous changes in the labour markets. This had been proven by the changes as the increase in the number casual and part time works, the shift of the employment in the manufacturing services, and the importance of the educational attainment is greater. The challenges that had faced the union as well are the shift in the mix of occupational employment and the declination of the public sector’s relative size. The reduction in the unionization rate was the net effect if the structures (Hawke and Wooden, 1998).
The continuous rise of the unemployment is also one of the challenges the union had encountered. The average of 2 percent had been recorded during the start of 1970 in the rate of unemployment. The recession falling of the unemployment rate had been experienced in the following years. Recently, it jumped for about 8 percent and made to record prolong period and falling signs had been immediately seen. The labour market deterioration had is exacerbated in the growth in the labour under utilization which is the under-employment as example. This justifies to the number of part-time workers which are under-employed and arises to be less than 1 percent. This unemployment is symptomatic of the insecurity in the general job and follows the bargaining balance of the capital and the labour that can be shifted. Therefore, the persistent and rising unemployment is expected to be renewed and associated to the managerial pressures and prerogatives (Ibid).
The technological changes are also one of the unions’ challenges. This is a hindrance because the implementation of the new technologist can have the consequences for the employment composition and suddenly can have the implications for the labour and work organizations. In the case of Australia, the composition of the employment can marked changed towards the evidence of labour production. According to the studies made in the Australian research the technical change can have effect on overseas and the computer association can be connected to the wage premium. Generally, the growing research body simply suggests that the technologies had been favored specifically on the skill types, and to the skills of the non-production workers which can have the change as well to the traditional and past membership in the union (Ibid).
The continuous increase in the competitive market can be determine as one of the challenges of the unions due to the fact that product market and the labour market reinforce one another. There are also protections in the product market as in the quotas, tariffs, and the restrictions to imports can reduce the needs of the firms but it can act as an uncertainty and inefficient against the insurance. This can therefore conducive to the improvement of the environment wherein the labor market institutions will expand to the insurance of the workers will expand through assistance to the industry and protection in the competition of exports (Ibid).
The last factor on the challenges of the unions in Australia is the Change Organization of the work. In this manner, the firms are looking for the greater premiums and for the ways in coping with the rapid environment economic change and the greater uncertainty. This organized the major changes and can have the great flexibility as implying to the great focus on the non-wage and to the workplace bargaining. The process of centralized bargaining are recorded to be inconsistent in the flexibility concept and therefore determined by every firm. Therefore, adapting the flexible practices can be use by the unions and the workers to avoid inconsistency (Ibid).
The Organization’s Solutions
The government of Australia plays an important role in the structures and to the development of the industrial and to the labour department. The Constitution in Australia had a Federal government that will make the law in connection to the arbitration and to the conciliation. This only shows that the Federal parliament has the establishment of tribunals in the goal of preventing the disputes. The industrial relation structures made to be stable since the implementation of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration. The change and reform of industrial relation had been first experienced in enactment of the Federal Sphere. In this case, the elected labor governments made an impact in pursuing the agenda with the aide of the Income Accord and to the prices together with the ACTU are definitely involved in the centralization again of the bargaining. The change in the industrial election had continued from the Federal Labor Opposition strikes with the ACTU in the year 1983 until the Workplace Relationship Act which formalized the individual agreement collectively. Increasing the scrutiny had been the spotlight in Australia as the establishment of the Committee of Review Australian Industrial Relation had been implemented that will recast the Arbitration and the Conciliation and the arrangements of the operation in the awards exclusion. Recently, the renewed vigor of the Federal Coalition in the Workplace Relations Act of the government made a reform in the industrial relations. This act is an agreement that could be struck between the workers and the employers are bind legally under the commission (Peetz, 1996).
The trade unions also have the approach in the assessment of the failure and to the changes. In this case, the process of amalgamation has definitely helped in the acceleration process of the slide by simply absorbing to the other unions. In this merger, the main point is to respond to the expansion of the decentralized arrangement of bargaining. The enterprise bargaining can be the opportunities for the movement in union and acts as an agent in restoring the credibility in the workplace. Most important manner that the union must face is to have better services to offer. The ACTU is also consistent on the systems of awards that can update the National Wage increase (Ibid).
Bibliography
Bray, M et. al., Industrial Relations: a contemporary approach, McGraw Hill.
Trade Unions 2008, Britannica Encyclopedia, viewed 19 March, 2008,
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-228699/Australia
Hawke, A and Wooden, M 1998, ‘The Changing Face of Australian Industrial Relations: A Survey’, vol. 74.
Peetz, D 1996, ‘Unions, Conflict and Dilemma of Cooperation’, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 548-570.
Sappy R et. al. 2006, Industrial Relations in Australia: work and workplace, Pearson Education.
The Challenges Facing Unions in Australia 1997, Australian Council of Trade Unions, viewed 19 March, 2008,
http://www.actu.asn.au/Archive/MediaandCommunication/ACTUNews/TheChallengesFacingUnionsInAustralia.aspx.
Trade Unions 2008, Red Goldfish, viewed 19 March, 2008,
http://www.redgoldfish.co.uk/viewglossary.asp?gid=225
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