Why it's now or never for trade unions

In 1982, more than 50 per cent of all workers were unionised; today it's only 12.5 per cent. This trajectory signals nothing less than an existential crisis for organised labour.

Last week, delegates from every registered and affiliated union met in Adelaide at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Congress. They discussed this crisis in open forums and private meetings. They championed the work of organised labour in building the nation's economic prosperity and move motions on everything from privatisation to Palestine. Solidarity Forever was performed, with nervous glances exchanged during the verses.

But let's face it: trade union influence is at an historic low, and traditional organising strategies designed to arrest the collapse in union membership have failed. Workers, particularly young people and those on insecure contracts, are not joining unions. They don't see the point.

Union density is now below 10 per cent in 13 of the 19 industry groups examined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Some sectors have disappeared.

Australia's once-great manufacturing and textiles shops are gone, and with them, their union members.

If you remove health workers, public servants, utilities and government-funded construction workers, the labour movement would amount to little more than 5 per cent of all workers.

Perhaps it's time to admit the trade union movement is at its weakest point in 100 years. Given the doom and gloom analysis, is there a future for unions?

Yes, but with a significant caveat: what happens in the next 15 years will determine whether trade unions will continue to play a significant and impactful role in the political and economic lives of workers.

Unionists, progressives, and supporters of organised labour should pause to consider how we arrived at this point.

The decline of unionism in Australia is attributed to various factors, chief among them being wholesale changes in the structure of the economy, the Accord Compact, the introduction of enterprise bargaining, the rise of the gig economy, and the impact of technology on work.

In both the Howard and Rudd-Gillard years, the introduction and maintenance of anti-union laws, specifically WorkChoices and the Fair Work Act, have weakened the rights to freedom of association, which is the primary tactical tool of the union movement-the right to strike.

Australia's current industrial laws are among the most regressive in the OECD and limit the ability of unions to fight for their members collectively. In some sectors - a worker's ability to withdraw their labour and 'down tools' or 'stethoscopes' is near non-existent.

The Fair Work Act is designed to restrict the conditions under which a worker can strike: no action is permissible during the life of a bargaining agreement, unions must satisfy the good faith bargaining test, ballots must be conducted to reach majority support in workplaces, and any action must be approved in advance by the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

Under these arrangements, unions are reluctant to engage in costly strike action. The recent protracted dispute between the Community and Public Sector Union and the federal government agencies is a case in point. The bargaining round was flagged in October 2022.

After more than a year of negotiation and limited industrial action, a three-year agreement at just 12 per cent was recently approved.

Indeed, public servants in some agencies could not engage in prolonged action as the FWC can suspend or terminate action that is "causing or threatening to cause significant economic harm to the employer" or the "Australian economy or an important part of it".

As Josh Bornstein, head of employment law at Maurice Blackburn, writes: "When it comes to the right to strike, Australia is a backwater."

The importance of the right to strike should not be underestimated when considering the fortunes of workers. As a fundamental human right, enshrined in international law and codified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it is the most potent tactic available to workers and their unions for the "promotion and protection of economic and social rights".

When workers are prevented from engaging in democratic strike action, their wage outcomes are negatively affected. Labour compensation as a proportion of GDP was highest in the 1970s - as was the number of working days lost to strike action. At present, Labour's share of GDP is at near a record low point.

Put simply, economic data from the past 50 years in Australia shows that workers achieve better wage outcomes when participating in collective action, especially when they go on strike.

To tackle the existential crisis facing trade unions, delegates in Adelaide and leaders at the ACTU need to agree to push legislators to loosen restrictions on when workers can lawfully go on strike and express their democratic voice within the workplace. If we aim for fairness for workers and within our industrial relations system, there needs to be a democratic counter-balance to corporate Australia's unrestricted power and influence.

The key to bringing workers back into unions and achieving better wages and industrial conditions lies in taking results-driven action rather than relying on flashy presentations or social media campaigns. It's the only approach that has ever worked. It's now or never for trade unions.