Power at Work Rebuilding the Australian Union Movement

For the past 100 years, Australian unions have played a key role in protecting and improving the wages and working conditions of Australian employees. Now, membership is collapsing and the union movement is under unprecedented political attack. How can it rebuild itself so as to play its role in the modern deregulated, globalised world?

In Power at Work, Michael Crosby documents the crisis facing the union movement and focusses on the central role of organising workplaces and industries in an evidence-based plan for renewal. He proposes an agenda which is hardheaded, practical and achievable, one based on the recent experiences of successful unions - unions where the membership numbers are going up.

Crosby uses examples, analysis and interviews to map out a path for action which will restore a fairer balance of power in Australian workplaces. He is the former Federal Secretary of Actors Equity and Director of the ACTU Organising Centre, and now works for the Service Employees International Union.

CONTENTS
Introduction
Part 1 - Making sense of our situation
Australian unions - what is the problem?
What the hell happened to us?
Why are unions in Australia the way they are?
What kind of unions are we?
Part 2 - Rethinking Unionism
LHMU South Australia
Defining unionism that works
Organising and leadership
Strategic choice
Part 3 - Rebuilding organisational capacity
Doing the union's work differently
Member service centres
Splitting the organiser workforce
Organising existing members
Organising new members - the role of external or growth organisers
The role of the industrial officer
Union education
National offices
Financing change
Finding additional resources to win
Part 4 - Building strategic leverage
Our strategy towards employers
Managing the employer relationship
The need for scale in organising
Doing politics differently
The closed shop and the future
Part 5 - Driving comprehensive change
Leadership
Women in leadership
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index