Ross Gittins, the economics commentator for the Fairfax ‘quality’ broadsheets, the SMH and The Age,  claims that the Howard government’s IR changes are the last chance for the union movement:

“If it can’t rejuvenate itself in this fertile environment, it’s . . .  become anachronistic and deserves to be replaced by something else” (It may not be fair but it’s fair game)
The open secret to union relevance and, therefore, success, is focus.
For far too long too many unions and their officials have seen themselves either as a quasi alternative government, or as para-political advocate for certain carefully selected causes celebres; in the meantime, their members, seeing that their wages and working conditions seem way down on the list of official union priorities, quietly [for the most part] declined to renew their memberships.
The second aspect needing attention is that too many union officials see their tenure as just a step on the road to ALP candidacy for a [usually] safe seat in federal or state parliament; members aren’t blind —  they can tell a self-seeking dud for a fair dinkum rep —  and they act accordingly.
Gittins’ question —  “Why do so few workers see joining a union as the answer to their problems?” — needs to be addressed, and every union member in the country needs to demand of their officials that their focus returns to the core business of the movement:  defending and extending the wages, working conditions, rights and privileges of their members.
No more grandstanding over trendoid “social justice” issues-of-the-day; no more strikes for world peace, or whales, or trees, or rows of terrace houses. Instead, show members that their workplace difficulties are being tackled, and let members address these no doubt worthy issues as each individual sees fit.
The union covering my last workplace almost doubled its membership when the employers sought to play ducks ‘n’ drakes with wages and conditions in the mid-to-late 90s, and such was the success of its hard-working and dedicated officials that wages advanced beyond the normal government workforce benchmarks.

Leonard Colquhoun 7248
former workplace rep, VIEU [a non-affiliated union]