Australian Council of Trade Unions
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| Full name | Australian Council of Trade Unions |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1927 |
| Affiliation | ITUC |
| Key people |
Ged Kearney, President Dave Oliver, Secretary |
| Office location | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Website | www |
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and nine trades and labour councils. The ACTU is a member of the International Trade Union Confederation.
The current President of the ACTU is Ged Kearney, and the current Secretary is Dave Oliver.
The ACTU holds a biennial congress that is attended by approximately 800 delegates from affiliated organisations. Between congresses the ACTU is governed by an executive of 60 members: the president, the two vice-presidents, the secretary, the assistant secretaries, Trades and Labour Council representatives from each capital city and elected delegates from affiliated unions.
The objectives of the ACTU, as stated in its constitution, are as follows:
The ACTU's main focus since the 2007 Australian federal election has been its campaign to restore workers rights under the banner of the Your Rights at Work campaign In addition to this campaign the ACTU is also running a number of other campaigns, including workplace health and safety, working with other unions on the Your Rights at Telstra campaign and supporting the Rights on Site campaign.
The ACTU has also launched a service by which workers can join their applicable union directly through the ACTU. This self-titled "one stop shop" for union membership is Australian Unions.
In 2008, the ACTU launched a campaign to make paid maternity leave a new national employment standard.
In 2011, the ACTU launched a campaign to address the spread of casual, contract and other forms of insecure work in Australian workplaces. Part of this involved an inquiry into insecure work.
In Australia, agitation for One Big Union took place from 1911 from two different sectors: from the revolutionary Australian section of the IWW and from the pro-arbitration Australian Workers Union (AWU). At that time the AWU was the largest single Australian union. In 1918 after the collapse of the Australian IWW, a group of militant trade unions (which were opposed to the AWU) attempted to form One Big Union under the name Workers Industrial Union of Australia (WIUA). The hostility between the WIUA and the AWU prevented the formation of One Big Union in Australia. The ACTU was formed in 1927 and was one of the earliest attempts by trade unions to apply the principles of One Big Union earlier explored by more radical syndicalist unions like the CNT or revolutionary industrial unions like the IWW. The ACTU has not achieved the ideals expressed for One Big Union: it remains a council organisation, but it does however represent the majority of Australian trade unions. At its formation in 1927 the ACTU was only seen as representing blue collar trades unions, and only managed to achieve the support of trades unions.
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