Unions in a Contrary World: The Future of the Australian Trade Union Movement

by David Peetz

Overview

Australia once had extremely high levels of trade union participation yet since the 1970s the number of union members has been falling dramatically. This book gives the clearest picture yet of why people do or do not belong to unions and, in a sophisticated way, examines the reasons for union decline. Uniquely, it considers both macro and micro levels, looking at the structure of the economy and the labor market, the ideological dispositions people have toward unionism, the role of the state and the political and industrial strategies of unions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521630559
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/09/1998
Series:	Reshaping Australian Institutions
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Patterns and issues in union decline; 2. Joining and leaving; 3. Sympathy for unions; 4. Structural change in the labour market; 5. The institutional break in union membership; 6. Within the workplace; 7. The Accord and the post-Accord industrial relations order; 8. The future for Australian unions; Appendices.

Editorial Reviews

"Unions in a Contrary World provides a rigorous, yet highly readable account of union decline in a setting that we would have hardly thought likely. as such it makes for important and highly instructive reading." Bob Russell, Labour

"The book production is good, and the script is clear and well spaced." Pacific Affairs

From the Publisher