The Forum > General Discussion > Trade Unions in Decline?
Trade Unions in Decline?
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Look in a perfect world I would agree with you. The AIRC is like the 'industrial Senate' you propose. A forum where all parties could meet with a neutral mediator to determine fair wages and conditions openly and transparently is a worthy ideal but remember workers do not have access to the same resources that employers might - this is where a good union rep can make a difference because they are there to protect the interest of their members. Would this 'Senate' also set the salaries for senior executives and CEOs? :)
Business also belong to unions that act in their interests such as the Business Council of Australia and the various Chambers of Commerce. ie. lobby groups that advocate on behalf of their members. And believe me they do some powerful LOBBYING and have greater access to government (particularly under Howard) than any union I know of.
However, we are not a perfect world and employers are not always fair. Historically, employers have held most of the power in the worker/boss relationship and the only power a worker had was withdrawal of labour (now illegal).
Still looking historically, movements like unionism are not borne out of nothing, it is because of the woeful conditions workers in some industries found themselves eg.very low wages, unsafe working conditions, unreasonably long working hours and child labour.
Conditions today are better largely due to the efforts of unions. Unions, like any organisation of power, have not always behaved with integrity. Neither has business if we are talking about corruption, bribery and lack of ethics. White collar crime is not any less a crime because it is perpetrated by the big end of town.
Bottom line is business is important because it provides jobs but the importance of labour is often undervalued. A business is in it to make a profit but these days a profit is not enough and obscene profits at the expense of fair play just doesn't cut it if we are trying to achieve a win-win situation for both employee and employer.