Col, what you have described is the innocent dream.

In November 2000 I also shared that dream. I was a union activist and an active member of the Labor Party. Then I tried to discuss the unsupervised groups of children who were roaming about my school. I spoke at a staff meeting. I did not rabble-rouse. I spoke calmly for two minutes. But it was the end of my career. The acting principal - who had not seen me teach or looked at my program all year - claimed that "lots of" allegations had been made against me in "lots of" documents, and I was told that I would be in a two year punishment process, starting in 2001. The immediate and only advice of the union organiser was to "accept the things you cannot change". To this day I have not been told what the allegations were, so I can never prove myself innocent and have the decision to punish me struck off my file.
After five years of asking for help the union allowed me a maximum of $1000 in legal assistance.
Teachers and their bosses are in the same union. How crazy is that. When you are bullied at work the union just tell you that it is a "member versus member issue" and you are on your own.
Having teachers and their bosses in the same union saves the union lots of time and money that would otherwise be wasted supporting teachers who are being abused.

You are describing the dream.
The reality is that unions are not really being run for the benefit of members. My experience suggests to me that unions are being run as money-raising ventures to fund Labor Party advertising. Which sells us the innocent dream that we are better protected at work if we are in a union.

Well said and I hope many other readers are drawn to comment.

I think, however, some of your views are through 'rose coloured glasses' because I can so easily recall some appalling power abuses by union leaders (too). Yet you are so right about the present situation ... it is the government's one step too far and I am sure that is the way history will see it.

I think we need a new age of unions and a new form of leadership and management. Must it be adversarial? Certainly that has been the culture. The future?

Col,
I agree generally with your comments. I must say I have not been 'angered or frustrated' as you apparently have but I have been amazed at the lack of response to the negative publicity about trade unions. There are many good and positive stories to be told about what trade unions have done and are still doing for their members. What has amazed me is the apparent lack of response from prominent trade union leaders. Greg Combet is an obvious exception to that but there are many other people of considerable ability in the trade union movement who should be publicly promoting what unions stand for and what they have done as a positive force in our community. Just so people know where I am coming from I am now retired after some 40 plus years in the industrial relations field. During that time I worked for prominent employer organizations and dealt with union officials of sound judgement and ability. [There were also some ratbags but not many] For the last 26 years of my working life I practised as a Barrister in NSW, the last 12 years of that as Senior Counsel. My practice at the Bar was almost exclusively in the Industrial Relations field, appearing, again almost exclusively, for employer interests. All I am saying here is that I was opposed, almost every day, to union representatives and I came across many good ones in that time. I had a long case against Greg Combet in 1995 and I felt then that he was going somewhere. Anybody with any substantial knowledge about industrial relations [and I include in that captains of industry] knows that when representatives of the current federal government talk about 'union leaders controlling every workplace and controlling the IR system' they are telling, not to put to fine a point on it, furphies, or lies. But some good trade union leaders apart from people like Greg Combet really do have to stand up.
Herbie

Interesting piece. Right for the most part.

I find it rather interesting that in many media circles, unions are both blasted for their irrelevance, as well as the danger they pose to the Australian economy... seems to me you can't really have it both ways.

That being said, I think the wharfie standoff early in Howard's time as PM cemented in the minds of many Australians the uglier side of unionism. They were the example of union power gone too far.

Now however, the pendulum has swung. The paranoia that greets the union movement from the conservative set isn't questioned. This truly concerns me - this is business, and pressing your case is paramount. Unions and the business sect are often diametrically opposed, and when we question the motivations of one side and not the other, we're only going to end up with a system that represents a certain sect of society.

A recent example of this paranoia can be seen in the response to the comments made by Dean Mighell and John Robertson.

Take Robertson for instance - okay, he used some pretty inexcusable language - but the substance of his calls, was essentially, that he would lobby a Rudd government for better conditions for his union members.

This was portrayed in many media circles as some nefarious plot to influence government policy - the thing is, when business organisations follow a similar line, they are not given the same scrutiny. When was the last time you heard the Business Council of Australia being lambasted for their lobbying? Lobbying's a part of democracy, so I can only assume if the unionists clean up their language and phrase their requests with a little more eloquence instead of altering the substance, perhaps they'll be a bit less vilified... well, one can only hope.

My experience is similar to, but not as bad as, Dealing with the Mob’s. I have given the details on the “Farewell” thread on the discussion forum of www.platowa.com, so I will not repeat them here. In essence, an acting principal purported to dismiss me from my timetabling position as a leading teacher in my school after he had been there for one week because the school administration needed a scapegoat for its bad decision-making. As the injustice was so blatant and I had the overwhelming support of my colleagues, was in a strong union school and had the confidence of many years of school leadership experience behind me (probably more than my “superiors”), I did not take it lying down. I took him to the Merit Protection Board, which upheld my case and ordered my re-instatement.

The union involvement is instructive. I was assisted by the AEU, as was the acting principal. I have no problem with that. The problem I have is that his AEU representative did not simply try to support the unsupportable – my dismissal as timetabler; he went further and argued that I should have been sacked outright. So we had the principal class section of the AEU acting to support the bullying of teachers in the workplace.

There are good and bad union officials, but overall unions do an important job representing their members. If the members are unhappy with their leaders, they can vote in new ones. The attacks on unions by the current government simply show how out of touch it is.

The romantic notion of unionism is presented here in all of it's glory. However it isn't the full picture.

Let's talk about the waterfront dispute: Let's talk about the years of inefficiency in handling containers prior to the dispute in 1998. Let's talk about the direct effect on the stevedoring companies, and let's also talk about the downstream effects on the rest of the economy. It's disgraceful.

Let's talk about the head of the ETU recently boasting about ripping off employers.

Let's remember that Keatings recent comments about the terrible state of unions today.

In my own experience, I've watched the FSU attack their own members, much as the stories of the teachers presented here.

I've watched the ETU and CFMEU threaten to walk an entire workforce out of an energy company because 2 apprentices were being paid differently - an annual figure of 5 cents per year.

Unions have done good things in the distant past, however their collective recent behavour is abominable. Time to go.

Awww!. Get some bumper stickers made up that say, "Hug a Unionist".

What a lot of bunkum. In the same way that the Howard Government and all its patsies, are demonised then so is the Labor movement in Australia.

I've been labelled a left-wing Liberal and while the labelling might not be correct what is beyond dispute is the observations I have made of thuggish union behaviour. Norm Gallagher was pinged for parking illegally at lunchtime when he was having a liquid lunch, so he demanded that the council rescind the ticket, (do you know who I am?) and when they refused he went of in a fit of pique and pulled the workforce off the construction site for new council chambers. I lived through crappy teachers who burned incence in classrooms and knitted during class-time instead of teaching applied maths. My father was sacked because he blew the whistle on union rorts where cars were getting three miles per gallon and timber was sold three times to the Council.

These aren't lies, spin doctoring or fictional stories, they are facts, they are experiences that I felt, saw and smelled and they helped form the opinions that I now hold.

I don't think unions are good for workers and I don't think they are good for the country. They are relics of the past and they hunger for the power that they once had. I hope they never acieve the prominence that they had in the '70s, it was a sorry time in our history.

THREE CHEERS for some honesty.. no, I'm not speaking about the article, honest though as it might be, I'm referring to those with the testicles to report their horrific experiences at the hands of either Gallagher or Unionized Principles etc...

It shows EXACTLY why any utopian dream of 'World Socialism' is just that.. a dream.. the nightmare is what happens down on the streets, while the 'party spindoctors' are bleating about how well they are running things and how happy the 'masses' are.

I live near Johnston tiles in Bayswater.. what annoyed me was the rampage by a union thug who was fortunately JAILED for his crimes (but not for long enough) what annoyed me MORE was that he was hailed as a HERO and a martryr by many in the Union movement.

The world will have peace when the following happens.

1/ Muslim moderates denounce radicals regularly and harshly.
2/ Unionists denounce radicals regularly and harshly.
3/ Capitalists denounce 'strip mining/clearfelling' of all resources in the name of 'shareholder value'.

The problem with each of the above, is that the core issues being confronted are:

a) Megalomania. "Do you know who I AM" ?
b) Greeeeeed.

The Bible calls these things SIN!
But it also tells us that these 'sins' come from an inner sinfulNESS in each one of us.
Today it was a joy so sit down with various Christians, a Jew and an atheist.. to greet each other with a hug and embrace.. and continue planning how we will 'Rule the World'.. ok.. not quite, just checking if ur reading and awake :) but we are planning a demo on September 11 on the steps of Parliament house.

No.. many Unionists are not outlaws, but many are. Just like white collar criminals, they are blue collar ones.

Christ is the answer to sin, and dealing with the sin problem is the answer to social ills

Sorry but unions deserve a kick in the guts. They have endlessly campaigned for 'better pay and conditions' and, in doing so, have priced Australia out of business in far too many areas.
The union movement also did damn all to help me when one of their own denied me employment. Was I the best man for the job? Yes. They admitted that but I had been out of the country and I had not paid my union dues - as a student I could hardly afford to eat let alone pay union dues back in Australia.
Unions need to get a life and realise that they are, in their present form, past their use-by debate. Change or die.

One of the things that always amazes me about the ongoing criticism of unions is the double-standard premise that those organisations who represent workers are a negative social force, while those organisations who represent commercial interests fulfill a positive role in society.

Rotary, Lions, the Masons, the Business Council and the many commercial, professional and managerial associations around the country who look after the interests of their members (while gathering enormous wealth and power in the process) remain untouchable to media cricitism.

These are all deemed ‘nice’ organisations, who operate with integrity, efficiency and high-minded ethics. Well … they must. If they didn’t, the media would immediately tell us so. Wouldn’t they?

What also fascinates me about criticisms of the unions is that they almost always focus on the high-testosterone industries – in particular, waterfront, building and mining – that easily lend themselves to fantasies about violence, standover tactics and thuggery. It’s then an easy rhetorical leap to portraying all unions as inefficient, brutish and self-serving.

I suppose that the long-established conservative order of dominance – rich men over poor men; men over women; adults over children; humans over nature – has to be culturally reasserted on a regular basis by those who sit at the top of the heap. Anything that threatens that dominance – trade unionism, feminism, multiculturalism, liberal parenting/teaching policies, environmentalism etc – has to be regularly demonised and marginalised by those who control the mouthpieces of public debate.

Unions will go on being knocked down in the public domain … and they will keep on getting up again. Because anything less is too horrible to contemplate. Good, bad or indifferent, unions exist because they have to. They fulfil a vital role – not just in democracies, but in all societies. History has shown with horrifying repetition that the endgame in the destruction of labour representation is slavery.

MLK,
My trade union did not "threaten the conservative order".
My trade union passively preserved the conservative ( bullying) order.

In Queensland the Labor party is sitting at the top of the heap.

I have (some) control of this mouthpiece of public debate and I am not demonising my union. I am telling you the plain facts.
I believed 100% in my union. Then, when I turned to them for support, they just told me to "accept the things you cannot change".
You find it hard to grasp. I find it hard to grasp. But it happened. It is a fact.

I am complaining about my union and I don't see any point in them "getting up again" because their passive facilitation of workplace abuse is HARMFUL to ordinary teachers.

We need a real union, an old-style union with guts and integrity.

Unfortunately, the reasons that unions were formed in the first place still exists, in one form or another.

There are still as many rogue employers as there are rogue shop stewards.

Who honestly believes that if unions were dismantled tomorrow, we would all walk hand-in-hand into some glorious new future where fairness and justice for all would reign supreme?

Probably the same ones who believe the "people are are greatest asset" mantra that some corporations use just before they downsize or outsource to some foreign country.

It's all very nice for the highly paid in some (currently popular) industries, but who looks out for the weak and defenceless in our society?

Col, when you say non-union AWA workers rewards are "always less" than those of unionists do you have proof? My experience is very different here in Sydney.

Otherwise, I have observed the improvement in workplace camaraderie and cooperation over the last 25 years. I put this down to the decline in union activities on building sites. No more "C'mon guys, lets screw this company", no more beer as currency to keep the wheels greased, no more outright bribery, bastardry and bullying.

Dealing With The Mob,

As an ex-teacher, I also well remember the bullying that is endemic in the profession and I appreciate your feelings about your union letting you down. It must have been a difficult time for you.

I’m not trying to defend all unions everywhere. However, the ongoing media criticism of unions and their right to exist – particularly when it is so pervasive, repetitive and one-sided – needs to be put into an overall cultural perspective. We hear a great deal about bullying BY unions, but rarely do we hear about the bullying OF unions

I too am proud to be union, proud of my AWU my lifetime union, yes I have been a member of others, even delegate for two on the one site.
The threads author has got it right we unionists are subject to lies and in truth a total miss understanding buy our acting prime minister Howard.
We do not all vote Labor but for every party, we are not all radicals not in any way.
Let me share this storey.
A post of mine spoke of labour hire in civil construction using an award to reduce casual labour, yes including casual loading, for the average working week by $550.
Yes a lot of money, but no ordinary job , mud frost, heat , all a factor in daily works.
Now with nothing but the greatest pride I can say a book inspection uncovered under payments of that weak award in the order of $145 a week per workers for every week and back payments is assured.
15 weeks you do the sums, this evil unionist has no say in the fact half of those who receive this back pay never paid for it, are not unionists,.
Is it not fair to ask why not let union gains only be paid to union members?
Unionist are Australians let them be equal under the law, use that law to rein in the very few who shame my proud movement.

Just did what we all should do read every word of every post I find not much to disagree with.
But while I advise the teacher his case is proof all Unions have failures as officials vast differences exist union to union.
Fear not communicat unions are about to face great change, after our acting PM is gone change begins.
Only death awaits unions who do not change, unions who do not remember the only reason we exist is to benefit our owners and only share holders the membership.
Most of us, not all, are up for that challenge, I look for wards to an end to the silence of being the only union official, from the only union, on my weekly visits to civil construction sites .
While I must not let some things be said here I understand radicalism is no answer to lack of service to those we exist for.
Have no fear in ten years we will look back and see workchoices strengthened the union movement and crippled conservative Australia.
I would hope at the end of my working life I will be better thought of than Howard will be in just months after his train wreck by his mates of today.
John Howard to answer your question why do they no longer like me?
Lies have come home to haunt you sir, you forgot Labor would not win elections for you forever.
The very open so easy to see lies about trade unions are bloke lies about your so called battlers!
By By Johny good By I will whistle that tune every day of the campaign.

Sorry to see such a thread has failed to continue the debate so may I add kero to to embers?
A very good forum,we should all take note, has been locked by the actions of one poster.
I was until about 6 months ago a user of that fine forum, but one poster from my side of unionism and politics went far too far.
I miss that forum and found fault only with a very few, less than 5 but it is clear some do not understand other ways exist than raw open hate to get the point across.
For those who know the full storey let me assure them I turn the radio of instantly some one I have no wish to hear is on, including a few talk back barons.
But that most trade unionists are turned of by stupidity like this act and we take no ownership for idiots.
See? just maybe unionist are mainstream Australians, what else would you have us be?