Peak Union body entry Australian Council of Trade Unions (i) (1947 - 1979)

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 seventeen-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

Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland

• David Hamill - Papers, 1945 - 1964, UQFL 238; Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland. Details

James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives

• Fred Thompson Papers, 1952 - 1976, 8L-16L; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

• Trades and Labor Council of Western Australia - Records, 1950-1991, 1950 - 1981, ACC 3492A; ACC 3493A; ACC 3502A; ACC 3516A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

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

• Edna Ryan further papers, 1961-1989, 1961 - 1989, Add-on 2090 ML 2523/84; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Edna Ryan papers, 1965-1986, 1965 - 1986, ML MSS 4786; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• 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 Manuscript Collection

• Blanche D'Alpuget - Papers, 1963-1982, 1963 - 1982, MS 7348; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Lloyd Ross - Papers, 1854-1986, 1854 - 1986, MS 3939; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Terence Cecil Winter - Papers, 1932-1980, 1932 - 1980, MS 7941; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Barry Egan interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1988, ORAL TRC 1948/37; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Bill Kelty at the National Press Club, Canberra, 31 July 1991, 1991, ORAL TRC 4232; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Bob Davies interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1994, ORAL TRC 3128/5; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Charlie Fitzgibbon interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/19; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Col Colborne interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/20; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Dutchy Young interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986?, ORAL TRC 1948/8; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• 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
• John Ducker interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1988, ORAL TRC 1948/36; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Laurie Short interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1988, ORAL TRC 1948/30; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Pat Clancy interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1985 - 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/6; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Terry Muscat interviewed by Barry York for the Maltese Australian folklife and social history project, 1998, ORAL TRC 3772; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australian Council of Trade Unions - Records, 1969 - 1981, N88; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Council of Trade Unions - Records, 1906 - 1989, N21; N58; N68; Z282; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Council of Trade Unions - Records, 1956 - 1980, Z144; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Tom Wright Papers, 1926 - 1978, N33; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Muriel Agnes Heagney - Papers, 1936-1968, 1936 - 1968, MS 9106; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Michael Quinlan Collection, 1944 - 1986, 1992.0095; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

University of Wollongong Archives

• Australian Council of Trade Unions - Minutes and Reports, 1921 - 1949, D65; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Australian Council of Trade Unions - Rules, constitution and standing orders, September 1961, A763; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Decisions of the Australian Congress of Trade Unions, 1965, A83; University of Wollongong Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Griffin, Gerard, The Authority of the ACTU, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 1994, 19 pp. Details
• 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

• Hagan, James, 'Unions: Context and Perspective 1850-1980', in Ford, Bill and Plowman, David (eds), Australian Unions: an Industrial Perspective, 1983, pp. 30-58. Details
• Pilkinton, Garth, 'ACTU's Authority 1927-1957', in Ford, Bill and Plowman, David (eds), Australian Unions: an Industrial Perspective, 1983, pp. 272-302. Details

Journal Articles

• Cameron, Clyde, 'ALP and the Unions - Past, Present and the Future', Labour History, vol. 64, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1993, pp. 119-128. Details
• Coates, R., 'Fifty Years of the ACTU', Australian Left Review, no. 83, 1982, pp. 47-53. Details
• Davis, E.M., 'Roles of Australian Unions in Industrial Relations', Austalian Labour Relations: Readings, vol. 4, 1987, pp. 280-297. 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
• Donn, Clifford B., 'The ACTU, Trade Union Congress, and Nation-wide General Strikes', Labour History, vol. 37, 1979, pp. 78-85. Details
• Kerr, John R., 'Industrial Relations 1963-1964', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 6, no. 3, 1964, pp. 173-188. Details
• Larmour, C., 'The 'Y Club' and the One Big Union', Labour History, vol. 19, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1970, pp. 26-36. Details
• Martin, R.M., 'The Rise of the Australian Council of Trade Unions', Australian Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 1, 1958, pp. 30-42. Details
• Rawson, D.W., 'ACTU: Growth Yes, Power No', Power Conflict and Control in Australian Trade Unions, 1982, pp. 86-102. Details
• Rimmer, Malcolm, 'Long-run Structural Change in Australian Trade Unionism', Journal of Industrial Relations, 1981, pp. 323-343. Details
• Sheridan, Tom, 'Regulating the Waterfront Industry 1950-1968', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 40, no. 3, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1998, pp. 441-460. Details
• Woodward, A.E., 'Industrial Relations 1966-1967', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 9, no. 2, 1967, pp. 97-106. 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
• Michelson, Grant, 'Out of Tune? Union Amalgamations and the Musicians Union of Australia', The Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 39, no. 3, 1997, pp. 303-331. Details
• Nyland, Chris and Kelly, Diana, 'Beatrice Webb and the National Standard for Manual Handling', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 34, no. 2, 1992, pp. 307-337. Details