Trade Union entry Australian Postal Electricians Union (1912 - 1943)

Summary

Originally formed in 1912 as the Australian Postal Electricians' Union, this union became known in 1943, as the Postal Telecommunication Technicians' Association. The union consisted of telephone engineers and maintenance workers and sought industrial and political links with the labour movement well in advance of most other public service unions. In 1976 the union changed its name to the Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association and, on merging with the Australian Telephone & Phonogram Officers' Association in 1988 assumed a shared title. In 1992 the union simply became known as the Communication Workers' Union of Australia after it amalgamated with the Australian Postal & Telecommunications Union. The union amalgamated again a year later with the Telecommunication Officers' Association but it wasn't until it merged in 1994 with the Electrical Electronic Plumbing & Allied Workers' Union of Australia that it changed its name to the Communications Electrical Electronic Energy Information Postal Plumbing & Allied Services Union of Australia.

Related entries

Timeline

 1912 - 1943 Australian Postal Electricians Union
       1943 - 1976 Postal Telecommunication Technicians Association (Australia)
             1976 - 1988 Australian Telecommunications Employees Association
                   1988 - 1992 Australian Telecommunications Employees Association / Australian Telephone & Phonogram Officers Association
                         1992 - 1993 Communication Workers Union of Australia (i)
                               1993 - 1994 Communication Workers Union of Australia (ii)
                                     1994 - Communications Electrical Electronic Energy Information Postal Plumbing & Allied Services Union of Australia

Archival resources

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australian Telecommunications Employees Association - Records, 1917 - 1988, Z314; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Australian Telecommunications Employees Association - Records, 1911-1978, 1911 - 1978, MS 9982; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association, Federal Branch - Records, 1929 - 1976, 1989.0108; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association, Victorian Branch - Records, 1917 - 1975, 1977.0029; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Tele-technician, 'Some Highlights of Events in the Union's History: 75th Year ATEA, 1912-1987', Tele-technician: Official Journal of the Australian Postal Electricians Union, vol. 68, no. 5, 1987, pp. 162-167. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 8: Trade Unions - Communications and Electrical', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/029.html. Details