Rudd filled unions with joy but he was elected to lead in directions we unionists would not always like.
My view is we both unions and ALP are on new ground but both needed to find such ground.
Are many aware workchoices still lives?
So very many think it died on election night yet it will take years 2 at least before it is re crafted.
Laws still exist that will soon see union officials and delegates gaoled.
The crime? not answering questions from the ABBC!
People hand picked by Howard's team, who are on record for anti union feelings and actions work still for Julia Gillard.
So what future unions and ALP?
A national IR redraft is coming, public opinion will have more impact on it than unions this government is such.
Unions can not stand still, not wait for ALP scraps to hit the floor we face the challenges the party did 3 years ago.
Our case for better entry rights and much more is one we should win but we must confront change and hear the voices of our members and act.
Given recent happenings union members committed to change may well consider attending ALP party Branch's as active members.
It seems clear the party is inching away from us.
I look for no radical union actions the thugs and mugs have harmed us enough but two way talks in good faith are Unions best tool and a wary eye on the ALP.

Whats next? Whats next!
Write to K. Rudd and ask him to do something about our pathetic national defences!
As Indonesia and China build for the "southern-movements-on-to- Australia" they will one day make... the Defence gun cupboard is bare of guns for the citizens.
John Howard failed with a citizens home guard defence force. Perhaps the mighty, insightful Labor federal government wont.
Or does Labor feel warm with the thought of a Red chinese army on Australian soil.
Those old commo thoughts sure are hard to kick out...arent they?

In SA, the Labor Government and the unions are always at each others throats. The Union/ALP nexus seems to have gone for good. The Government knows it, but the unions still haven't noticed, it seems.

It is now reported that Labor's new industrial arrangements, after dumping the AWAs of the previous government, will see surging wage claims, higher inflation and more out of work.

I am retired, but I feel sorry for workers who put their faith in a Labor government at the last election.

Why does the union movement think that it runs the ALP Belly? Isn't it time to acknowledge that union membership is way down and that other things have taken the place of the old style union movement?
Unions had their place. They did a damn good job once and they were certainly necessary but they have not kept pace with change.
You worry about me mate but I think I worry more about you and the likes of Sharan Burrows et al.
Unions are about to be the cause of another wages blow-out that the country cannot afford.
It happens every time. The conservative mob get in and fix the economy (not that your lot would agree) and then the other mob get in and undo all the hard work because they let the unions call the shots.
You're in the minority these days Belly but you still wield power far in excess of your actual numbers. I'll be happier when 80% of the delegates at an ALP conference don't belong (and never have belonged) to a union.

It is never easy in this forum to debate politics truly get to the guts of issues.
We find Gibo talking of home guards? mate do you understand if every one of us took his gun and ran to our shores we could not defend the best pub in Bondi?
It is about the relation ship between the ALP and unions unions gave birth to the ALP.
The ALP clearly is wishing to distance itself from the union, 22% of unionists while not most Australians is no small number.
It is my view thugs and mugs tactics are dead forever.
But like over half the western world unions can reinvent themselves and just maybe Labors efforts invite us to do so.
Single parent family's are not the norm.
I had no wish to turn this into an industrial relations debate but I see no rush to ask for inflated wages, most of my industry's are locked into EBAs for at least 2 years.
Some victims of workchoices are 1 or 2 years into agreements that see no pay rises in FIVE YEARS!.
Much of the anti union rhetoric is manufactured, some by ALP members of the NSW house.
I will not bend to the idea unions are just about trouble making or that if we fade away bosses will be good and wages safe.
Nore will I bend to the unions who invented workchoices for Howard with tactics that shamed my movement.
I still back Rudd he rules as he must and he must sometimes say no to unions but he must never forget, not for a second some who work very honestly and very hard are suffering unions have a part to play no free run but no ropes around the neck.

Dear Belly,

There are many employers who try to discourage their workers from joining unions. Sometimes they do this by claiming unions are irrelevant, unnecessary, sometimes they do this through threats and intimidation.

But no matter their method, their reasons for doing this are nearly always the same - to shift the balance of power to them and away from the collective strength of their employees working together.

Attempts to discourage unionism usually go hand-in-hand with attempts to introduce individual workplace contracts.

The ABS said 19% of the workplace were trade union members in conjunction with their main job in August last year. This was down 89,600 from the previous year. However statistics don't mean that much. It doesn't mean that the drop was because people didn't want to belong to a union. People leave unions for a variety of reasons - they retire, take a redundancy, or change their job. The ABS also found that a higher proportion of full-time employees (21%) were union members than part-time employees (14%).

Before Workchoices my neighbour had considered removing herself from union membership because of the weekly fee it was costing. However, thanks to the support of the union in the latest wage negotiation, the
membership has paid for itself.

Individuals alone hold little power, that's why unions are so important. They give their members strength, bargaining power, support, industry-leading advice, training and advocacy, and a voice.

What next? Maintain and advance the wages and conditions of the members. As for the Labor Party - Unions are an important part of the landscape, but they're not the entire picture - as we all know. And scare tactics on behalf of some politicians won't work any more, as the last election clearly illustrated.