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- Title
TRADE UNION ORGANISING AND LABOUR HISTORY.
- Authors
Cooper, Rae; Patmore, Greg
- Abstract
In recent years, in the context of declining density and power, Australian unions have engaged in a debate about their survival. This debate has hinged on the concept of "organizing." This article highlights the contribution that labor historians can make to the present Australian debates concerning trade union decline and organizing. Although labor historians have tended not to focus specifically on union organizing, by examining the rich contribution that labor historians have made to the understanding of Australian trade unions, insights into this aspect of union strategy can be found. There may be innovative approaches to organizing that can be resuscitated from the past and modified for current circumstances. It is suggested that W.A. Howard's "dependency thesis" for Australian unions may be too simplistic in regard to organizing. Preference clauses and right of entry for union organizers were not necessarily granted by the arbitration system to unions nor respected by management. The article also explores the role of employers in inhibiting, and peak councils in coordinating, union organizing.
- Publication
Labour History, 2002, Issue 83, p3
- ISSN
0023-6942
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/27516880