Background of trade union membership in Australia

Discuss about the Coaching Skills for Leaders in Workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the concept of trade union membership in Australia as a result of its major decline since the 1980s. In addition, the paper will consider the aspects that make unions become irrelevant in Australian Employment Relation. Typically, a trade union can be defined as an organized group of workers that combine ideas and policies in order to protect their working conditions and further their interests and rights. In Australia, trade unions are guided by Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). This council was founded in 1927 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1927, the council of trade unions has become one of the biggest body representing workers in Australia. More than 48 affiliated unions have been formed. However, the membership for trade unions was successful until the 1980s. Since the 1980s, trade union membership has declined in Australia. The paper aims to determine the antecedents and consequences of this decline to Australia Employment Relation.

Trade union membership in Australia has affected both private and public sectors thereby limiting workers from accessing the core services. According to Australia Bureau of Statistics, there has been a significant increase in the number of experts holding a union ticket in Australia. However, at present, the number of professionals affiliated to trade union membership in Australia has declined for the private sector as well as in public sector (Rebecca & Hyman, 2013). The density of union membership in the private sector is estimated to be 10.1%. On the other hand, trade union membership in public sector declined by 4.9 % between 2013 and 2016. The last recorded trade union membership in the public sector in Australia is estimated to be 38.5%.

There are many reasons behind this decline. Australia unionism has been working so well until the 1980s where workers have declined to renew their union membership. Some of the reasons behind this decline include managerial hostility, youth indifferences, and enterprise bargaining along with unfriendly legal frameworks to trade unions. First, managerial hostility has affected workers in Australian workforce where top management has failed to honor the agreement signed between workers and employers(Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). For that reason, workers no longer trust unions to present their grievances. management of trade unions is driven by their personal interest rather than the interest of workers. In that case, workers are left to negotiate for their rights and interest thus making trade union membership irrelevant in Australia.

Reasons behind the decline of trade union membership in Australia

Moreover, the Australia Government has formulated unfriendly laws to trade unions thereby making their operations difficult. For that reasons, workers are also subjected to unfavorable terms by their trading unions so as to fit the legal requirements. Straining workers to fit in unfriendly laws force them to withdraw from trade union membership. Therefore, poor legal frameworks are among the major contributors to declining trade union membership in Australia. Nevertheless, the decline of trade union membership has widely tracked the decreasing share of jobs for blue-collar workers (Richard, 2013). This decline can be subdivided into three declining periods. The decline between 1954 and 1976 reduced the density of unions from blue-collar working class to lock-step working class. This decision declined workforce share in Australia.

Another period of trade union decline occurred between 1971 and 1996 (Rothbard, 2007). This decline took place at a relatively slower pace as compared to the blue-collar share of the workforce. In this period, unions had managed to recruit more workers in the white-collar section. However, since the 1980s, the decline in trade union membership declined due to managerial hostility, youth indifferences, and enterprise bargaining along with unfriendly legal frameworks to trade unions.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) reviewed trade union membership and categorized union members into three sections. That is a skilled and semi-skilled worker, blue-collar workers, managers,and professionals. These unions focused on maximizing wages and salaries for workers. Most of the members in Australia join trade unions for three major reasons. That is dissatisfaction with financial aspects of the economy, to influence working conditions via union oriented means as well as benefits associated with union outweigh on costs expected from membership (Risak, 2010). Despite the desires for members to join trade unions in Australia, there has been a decline in the membership thereby resulting in certain consequences in Australian trade union membership. These consequences affect workers in Australia. They also affect trade unions thereby making them irrelevant in Australia Employment Relation.

The decline of trade union membership in Australia affects many stakeholders within workforce industry. Some of the stakeholders include workers, trade unions,and Australian Government. The main work of trade unions in Australia is to negotiate for better salaries, wages and better working conditions for workers. With the decline in membership, workers do not have a representative for their grievances. From Australian trade union point of view, workers are affected negatively bya decline in the membership (Ryan & Deci, 2017). For that reason, Australia has experienced a growing concentration of income. It has also resulted in increased inequality in the workforce sector.  The decline in membership has affected working hours for workers in Australia. The employers are taking advantage of this scenario to exploit workers. The workers are exposed to long working hours because they do not have trade unions to protect their rights and interests. The graph below demonstrates the decline of union membership in Australia as a result of labour factors and other Australian Employment standards.

Consequences of the decline in trade union membership to employment relation in Australia

Second, the decline has affected work intensity in Australia. Lack of trade unions for workers eliminate the working policies and standards. This implies that workers will not perform professional work since they lack a clear guideline of work standards. This affects work intensity in Australia thus compromising the quality of products and services from public and private sector (Puttee et al, 2011). Moreover, the decline in the membership affects work-life balance. This is because workers are not provided with a clear platform to set work standards in their working environment. They are not able to balance between work and personal life. This may end up affecting their social life at the expense of achieving economic prosperity and career growth and development.

The other consequence of this decline relates to gender factor. In that connection, declined membership may result to increase in pressure for women at the workplace. There is Australia Act that governs gender performance inthe workforce. There is also a trade union that foresees the issue of gender balance in Australia Employment Relation. Therefore, declining membership expose women to pressures in the workplace (Maslow, 2013). This affects their output per worker. As a result, many of these women end up becoming unemployed. Therefore, the decline in membership may increase the rate of unemployment in Australia. Since the 1980s, membership declined in Australia trade union due to varying union strategies applied to devote and reorganize resources in Australia. Unions were forced to allocate more resources so as to upgrade workplaces and train union’s delegates. In that connection, the working environment remained adverse despite a big influence in some workplaces. There trend on the decline of union membership can be supported by information from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as shown below.

Australia tried to stabilize the situation but trade union membership could not grow significantly so as to correlate with workforce growth. As a result, trade union membership has been associated with density decline. At present, Australia is facing difficulties in workplace discrimination. Trade unions were acting as a representative for workers. Since the decline started, workers are no longer represented equally in the workplace (Marylene, 2014). Therefore, workers are being discriminated based on gender, religion, sex, and other forms of discrimination. Workers do no longer enjoy trade union rights and privileges.

The other approach for the decline in membership relates to consequences of decline to trade unions in Australia. Apart from workers being affected by the decline, trade unions also face a difficult time as a result of membership decline. Being a member of a trade union, it is a requirement to provide contributions to the union. Typically, workers are to pay for services provided by their trade union. This implies that unions operate from funds contributed by members. In that connection, upon exit as a member of a trade union, then the union loss a portion of resources required to run day-to-day operations. Therefore, Australian trade unions are facing financial crisis. This means they cannot operate effectively and efficiently. For example, in the 1990s, Australian unions faced a challenge on workforce (Kanungo & Manuel, 2014). Although workforce was increasing significantly, the rate of membership to trade unions declined. This was contributed by the belligerence of employers and government on tribunal advocacy and politics. The rate of decline in membership unions in Australia has been declining a higher rate. The data below indicates the decline from 1990 to 2007.

Stakeholders affected by the decline of trade union membership in Australia

The next issue of the decline relates to new composition and regrouping of workers. Australian workforce is changing and workers are regrouping. There are three main groups created by the worker. The first group relates to managers and professionals. This group is involved in overall control and monitoring process in the workforces. The other group relates to government agencies that create working policies (Gamble, 2016). Lastly, skilled and semi-skilled group involves workers who deliver workplace services as deployed by management and professional. These groups are replacing the trade unions in Australia. Therefore, despite an increase in workforce, workers are no longer joining trade unions. They prefer joining these groups for rights and interests. This explains the decline in trade union membership in Australia. There are various issues that made workers withdraw from trade unions. First, some unions were charging a lot of money from workers. To become a member of a trade union in Australia, members were to meet tight financial schedules (Greasley, 2003). This made many workers to suspend their membership. Again, some unions were expressing their interests at the expense of their members’ interests. Lastly, the laws subjected to trade unions were unfriendly. The burden was shifted to members through certain policies and procedures.

At present, many workers in Australia are independent. They do not associate with any union member. As a result, unions are becoming an irrelevant actor in the Australian Employment Relation. Unions have lost their capacity to control workforce in Australia.  Each trade union in Australia is facing specific problems that are embedded from the withdrawal of members. From the decline, the solidarity of trade unions in Australia is collapsing at a high speed. Their infrastructure and resources are no longer sustainable (Camm, 2016). Again, workforce issues have become a global component. Their rate at which new employment opportunities are increasing in Australia may not offer a platform for the formation of trade unions. Therefore, workers are searching for other alternatives to cater for their rights and interests. This action makes trade union membership to collapse completely in Australia. In the long-run, the decline may become unbearable thereby making unions completely irrelevant in Australian Employment Relation.

Conclusion

The Australian Employment Relation needs to review the major issues that contributed to the decline in trade union membership since 1980 if the country wishes to save these unions. Trade unions have been used in other countries by workers and many employees have reported great positive impact contributed by their trade unions. However, in this paper, the decline in membership in Australia has critically analyzed the main reasons why the unions started to collapse since the 1980s. Countries, where trade unions are successfully applied, tend to consider the interests and rights of members as their first priority (Arnold, 2010). Therefore, if Australian Employment Relation aims at re-energizing trade unions, it is high time to recommend unions to operate differently. Right and interests of members should be prioritized. Otherwise, the decline will reach an adverse level thereby making Australian Employment Relation irrelevant. All stakeholders need to start working together to deliver quality services to their members. Lastly, Australian Government needs to enact friendly laws in order to support trade unions. This will contributes to the recovery of trade unions thus increasing the possibility of recruiting more members in the future.

References

Arnold, J. (2010). Coaching Skills for Leaders in the Workplace: How to Develop, Motivate andGet the Best from Your Staff. How to Books.

Camm, J.D. (2016). Essentials of Business Analytics. South-Western College Pub.

Gamble, J.E. (2016). Essentials of Strategic management : The Quest for Competitive Advantage. McGraw-Hill Education.

Greasley, A. (2003). Simulation Modelling for Business (Innovative Business Textbooks). Routledge.

Kanungo, R.N., & Manuel, M.  (2014). Work Motivation: Models for Developing Countries. Sage Publication put.

Marylene, G. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation and Self-Determination Theory. OUP USA.

Maslow, A.H. (2013). A Theory of Human Motivation. Start Publishing LLC.

Puttee, C., Vitale, C. & Laing, G. (2011). Eight Dialogues on Business Ethics: Aspects of Ethical Behavior in the Corporate Sector. E-Journal of Social & Behavioral Research in Business. 2(2), 1-17.

Rebecca, G., Hyman, R. (2013). Trade Unions in Western Europe: Hard Times, Hard Choices. OUP UK.

Richard, A. (2013). Job Satisfaction from Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory Perspective. Grin publishing.

Richard, A.B., & Mitchell, W. (2012). Strategic Management. The journal of strategic management society. Wiley-Blackwell. Pg. 123-143.

Risak, R.E. (2010). Labor Law in Austria. Kluwer Law International.

Rothbard, M.N. (2007). Review of Austrian Economics. Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, EL. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic PsychologicalNeed in Motivation, development,and Wellness. The Guilford Press.

Shapiro, J.P. & Stefkovich, J.A., (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Abingdon: Routledge.