Peak Union body entry Australasian Council of Trade Unions (1927 - 1947)

Summary

The dominant association and governing body of the trade union movement in Australia. It was established in May 1927 as the Australasian Council of Trade Unions. The Australian Workers' Union joined the ACTU in 1967, and the ACTU's merger with two leading federations of white-collar unions, the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations, in 1979, and the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations, in 1981, gave it about 2,500,000 members, or more than three-fourths of the trade-union membership in Australia.

The ACTU is represented in many official bodies and has played a major role in Australian politics. It is the recognised representative of organised labour in centralised wage negotiations with business and the federal government. The ACTU has traditionally maintained a close association with the Australian Labor Party, though not actually affiliated to it. Robert Hawke, who was president of the ACTU from 1970 to 1980, went on to serve as Australian prime minister from 1983 to 1991. The ACTU's policy-making body, a biennial congress, is made up of delegates from state branches of the federation (called trades and labour councils) and from affiliated trades unions. The decisions of the ACTU's 17-member executive body must be ratified by a majority of the state branches in order to go into effect.

Related entries

Timeline

 1921 - 1927 Council of Action, All-Australian Congress of Trade Unions
 1923 - 1927 Commonwealth Council of Federated Unions
       1927 - 1947 Australasian Council of Trade Unions
             1947 - 1979 Australian Council of Trade Unions (i)
                   1979 - 1981 Australian Council of Trade Unions (ii)
                         1981 - Australian Council of Trade Unions (iii)

Archival resources

John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland

• Australian Council of Trade Unions Records 1927-1939, 1927 - 1939, OM78-56; John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• F.J. Riley papers, 1925 - 1951, A3222; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office

• Papers of A.E. Monk, 1920 - 1975, M1171; National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Edgar Ross interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1988, ORAL TRC 1948/34; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Hagan, James, The ACTU: a short history on the occasion of the 50th anniversary 1927-1977, A.H. and A.W.Reed Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1977, 95 pp. Details
• Hagan, James, The History of the A.C.T.U., Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1981, 476 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Pilkinton, Garth, 'ACTU's Authority 1927-1957', in Ford, Bill and Plowman, David (eds), Australian Unions: an Industrial Perspective, 1983, pp. 272-302. Details

Edited Books

• Murphy, D.J. (ed.), The Big Strikes, Queensland 1889-1965, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Queensland, 1983, 303 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Coates, R., 'Fifty Years of the ACTU', Australian Left Review, no. 83, 1982, pp. 47-53. Details
• Donn, Clifford B., 'Founding of the ACTU: Origins of a Central Trade Union Federation', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 19, no. 4, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1977, pp. 404-423. Details
• Farrell, F., 'International Solidarity?', Labour History, vol. 35, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1978, pp. 129-137. Details
• Martin, R.M., 'The Rise of the Australian Council of Trade Unions', Australian Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 1, 1958, pp. 30-42. Details
• White, J., 'The Port Kembla Pig Iron Strike of 1938', Labour History, vol. 37, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1979, pp. 63-77. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 1: Peak National Councils - Trade Unions', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/021.html. Details

See also

• Matthews, T.V., 'Business Associations and the State, 1850-1979', State and Economy in Australia, 1983, pp. 115-149. Details