Are We Still Passionate Being bored I wandered down to the ETU archives to read through some minutes of meetings—as you do! I began with the very first page of a heavy, worn, brown leather-bound volume which was the minutes of the executive of 18 April 1918. President Bill Stewart was in the chair. The…
A Unionist View of the Royal Commission into the Building Industry. Although the Royal Commission into the Building Industry began in 2001 and concluded in 2003, it’s investigations unfolded mostly in 2002 and the following essay is an account of the observations and experiences of me, a rank and file electrical trades’ unionist who followed…
The ETU and Its Industrial Group In the early part of the twentieth century communism became a much feared political and industrial force. Communists were infiltrating unions and, in some cases, taking control. ETU member, John Pittle summed it up this way; “It was a fight of who’s going to represent the workers, the Communist…
The Circles of Industrial Relations Industrial relations came out of the Industrial Revolution having always been shaped by the economic models and the politics of the day. The industrial revolution occurred between 1760-1840. At the same, Scottish economist, Adam Smith’s model of liberal economics laid the foundations for Capitalism as we know it (1776). Industrialisation…
The ETU and Award Restructuring ACTU: Australian Council of Trade UnionsAMWU: Amalgamated Metal Workers UnionETU: Electrical Trades UnionMTFU: Metal Trades Federation of UnionsMTIA: Metal Trades Association of Australia While doing some cataloguing for our ETU archive, I came across a press release by a Liberal politician taking the opportunity to stick the knife into my…
Echoes of Tolpuddle Driving through Dorchester, England on holiday some time back, I suddenly started yelling; Stop the Car! Stop the Car! The others in the car looked at me like I was a lunatic but we had just driven into the village of Tolpuddle, a holy grail of trade unionism. I jumped out of the car,…