Anthony Albanese is facilitating aggressive tactics from under-pressure trade union leaders battling to keep their movement relevant as membership plummets in the face of technological advancements and evolving work patterns.
Seven months after Albanese’s election win, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data showing the proportion of employees with trade union memberships had fallen from 41.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent since Bill Kelty ran the ACTU in 1992.
Labor’s sweeping industrial relations changes have emboldened ACTU secretary Sally McManus, the organisation’s president Michele O’Neil and other powerful union leaders to exert their influence more overtly as they scramble to keep pace with the fast-moving advent of automation, artificial intelligence and robotics.
The intersection between the Labor federal government and unions runs deep in Albanese’s cabinet.
If ministers had to recuse themselves over conflicts of interest with unions, the Prime Minister would be running the government virtually on his own.
Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Tony Burke, Katy Gallagher, Don Farrell, Amanda Rishworth, Ed Husic, Chris Bowen, Mark Butler, Bill Shorten and Brendan O’Connor worked for unions before entering politics.
Jim Chalmers, Tanya Plibersek, Catherine King, Linda Burney, Murray Watt and Clare O’Neil all hold union memberships.
Labor MPs list union memberships – aligning with the faction that blessed their political careers – under a section on the parliamentary register of interests that states “membership of any organisation where a conflict of interest with a member’s public duties could foreseeably arise or be seen to arise”.
In recent speeches to private sector crowds, Albanese has declared he was “pro-worker and pro-business”.
But when the Left-faction powerbroker spoke at the ACTU Congress in Adelaide last week, he paid homage to Labor’s union comrades who will fund the party’s re-election campaign and volunteer at booths on polling day.
“The mighty trade union movement has given us strength and inspiration,” Albanese said.
“In the trade union movement, you stand up for working people, each and every day – and you never stand still.
“You are always looking to the future, to the next challenge – and the next opportunity.
“That’s what our government’s vision for a Future Made in Australia is all about.”
McManus, ACTU secretary since 2017 and no friend of John Setka, is a formidable, ruthless and intelligent operator striving to keep the union movement relevant in the digital age.
Industrial relations policy wins for unions since the 2022 election include same job, same pay, the abolishment of the Coalition’s Australian Building and Construction Commission, multi-employer bargaining, “Closing Loopholes in labour hire” and progress on the Right to Disconnect.
Business chiefs and industry leaders – who expected the ACTU to flex its muscle under Labor – are increasingly concerned about the far-reaching influence of union leaders across government and the rise in direct challenges to corporate culture and management.
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