That sounds very complicated Freediver, even though it's supposed to be simple.  Joining a union isn't compulsory except for those in the Public Services I assume?

Glad to see a pro-union article here, and at that, one that doesn't dismiss out of hand the concept of compulsory unionism.

I support compulsory unionism, because, without it union members can have their strength undermined by free-loading non-union members.  Having said that I have my own concerns about abuses of union power, but I think that that evil is vastly prefereable to abuses of power by employers which are so widespread these days.

About 18 months ago I joined the union. (CPSU) and our membership is slowly increasing. I have seen the union excesses of the 1970s and 80s and would never have thought I would ever join one. However I realised my employer had no interest in resolving an issue I had and the union was the only way I could make myself heard.  I don't believe in compulsory unionism however. That can make the union lazy, or become the personal fiefdom of certain leaders. A voluntary union must work hard to retain members and deliver real benefits. There is also the basic concept of freedom of association.

We are currently in the middle of negotiations with the government over our next certified agreement. In the past the union has negotiated for all employees, not just union members, however this time the union will only negotiate for members. Others must come to their own arrangements. This may lead to the situation were there are two different agreements made, one for union members and one for the others. Given the departments take it or leave it attitude so far the non-union agreement will suck.

mantra wrote on Jul 5^th, 2007 at 12:27pm:

I don't think that for $25.00 a year any UNION boss would bother to collect it.
When i retired our fee was 1% of our gross wages.
I always believed in Unionism, but the leadership is often woeful, most of the leaders have one eye on trying to get into politics.
The ACTU provides many MP's, but they would not bother to reply to correspondence.
Many Union bosses are sitting on super boards and are well paid for it, yet the compulsory super will only really benefit the top 30% of earners, including politicians and Union bosses.

freediver wrote on Aug 10^th, 2011 at 6:05pm:



The student union fee was always a strange thing - it mainly payed for campus facilities like the canteen and sports facilities, most of it had nothing to do with unions.

It needed to be fixed not removed.