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Australian Council of Trade Unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a council of 46 affiliated unions representing about 1.8 million workers.[1]
HistoryThe ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions". It was one of the earliest attempts by trade unions to apply the principles of One Big Union earlier explored by more radical syndicalist unions like the CNT or revolutionary industrial unions like the IWW. In the Australian case, agitation for One Big Union occurred from 1911 from two different sectors: from the revolutionary Australian section of the IWW and from the pro-arbitration Australian Workers Union (AWU). At that time the AWU was the largest single Australian union. In 1918 after the collapse of the Australian IWW, a group of militant trade unions (which were opposed to the AWU) attempted to form One Big Union under the name Workers Industrial Union of Australia (WIUA). The hostility between the WIUA and the AWU prevented the formation of One Big Union in Australia. It was the attempts of Stanley Bruce's federal government in 1927 to dismantle the Australian Industrial Relations Commission which impelled the Australian trade unions to form a national council. 
Melbourne Trades Hall in Victoria is the "birthplace" of the ACTU The ACTU has not achieved the ideals expressed for One Big Union: it remains a council organisation, but it does however represent the majority of Australian trade unions. At its formation in 1927 the ACTU was only seen as representing blue collar trades unions, and only managed to achieve the support of trades unions. From 1948 peak bodies of white collar associations existed, and from 1969 peak bodies of government employees. The white collar bodies were: the Council of Professional and Commercial Employees Association (1948), which became the Council of White Collar Associations (1954), which amalgamated with the Salaried Employees Consultative Council of New South Wales (1954) to become the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations (ACSPA) in 1956. The government employee bodies were: the Council of Commonwealth Public Service Organisations (1969) which became the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations (CAGEO) in 1975. The ACTU successfully integrate these bodies in 1981. After 1981 the ACTU was generally viewed by the Australian media and public as the organisation representing all workers' organisations. 
Greg Combet, Former Secretary of the ACTU, speaking on 2 November 2005 shortly after the Government introduced its WorkChoices legislation into the Australian Parliament. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the ACTU was influential in a move to forcibly amalgamate smaller unions into so called "super unions". The ACTU's plans envisaged 20 super unions organised on an industrial basis. While a large number of amalgamations occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s (in part under the influence of changed industrial law), there are still a large number of unions, and union coverage is often organised by historical amalgamation, not by industry. OrganisationThe ACTU is a biennial congress that is attended by approximately 800 delegates from affiliated organisations. Between congresses the ACTU is governed by an executive of 18 members, comprising of the president, two vice-presidents, the secretary, the assistant secretary, Trade and Labour Council representatives from each capitial city and seven elected delegates form the biennial congress that represent industry groups. ObjectivesThe objectives of the ACTU as stated in ite constitution are as follows:
Current CampaignsRecently the ACTU's main focus is its public criticism of the Howard Government's new WorkChoices legislation, including an advertising campaign[2] and public rallies.[3] This campaign is known as Your Rights at Work,[4] and has been considered an outstanding success in regards to making Industrial Relations an important election issue by both marketing companies[5] and even Joe Hockey MP, the Federal Workplace Relations Minister, who said "This is the most sophisticated political plan that we have seen in Australia.".[6] One of the rallies was called Fill the "G" for which the ACTU booked the Melbourne Cricket Ground and broadcast the event to other similar rallies throughout the country, it aimed to fill the ground with protesters, an aim which it did not achieve.[7] While it may not have achieved this aim literally, more than 50,000 people is still an impressive crowd,[8] however it was not as successful as the previous national rally which had a reported attendance of 500,000 around Australia.[9][10] The ACTU has also recently launched a service by which workers can join their applicable union directly through the ACTU. This self titled "one stop shop" for union membership is Unions Australia.[11] Current member organisations
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fr:Conseil australien des syndicats Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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