If Australia’s Unions Don’t Organize Unemployed Workers, They’re Digging Their Own Graves
Faced with the unemployment crisis of 1890, jobless workers in Melbourne formed a union to fight for relief. But the Australian labor movement remained indifferent to their struggle — and soon paid the price. Those self-defeating attitudes are still alive in unions today.
Unemployed workers in Australia, 1930. (National Museum of Australia).
On June 6, 2020, in a rapidly deleted tweet, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus responded to a complaint about the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union (AUWU) by asserting that the AUWU is “not a union.” In a later tweet, McManus elaborated: “They are not a registered union or an affiliate of the ACTU, so I’m sorry I can’t help.”
According to the letter of the law, McManus is right. Ever since federation, Australian law has required unions to demonstrate “coverage” over a particular occupation in order to obtain registration. An unemployed workers’ union, by definition, cannot do this.
However, there was more to her comment than a strictly legal point. It sent a clear message to unemployed workers that their unions are not considered legitimate or welcome in the labor movement. According to McManus, unemployed workers would be better off donating to the ACTU’s recently launched Supporter Program, which allows “workers who are not eligible for union membership to support and engage with the union movement.”
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