Mua Here To Stay

MUA here to stay!: the issues behind a make-or-break dispute.

This book charts the path to revitalisation for trade unions in Australia, the USA, the UK, and Italy. It examines the examples of innovation and digital campaigning that are enabling unions to build new forms of worker power – and overcome decades of declining membership wrought by neoliberalism, globalisation, and hostility from employers and the state. The study evaluates the responses of unions in each country to falling membership levels since the 1980s. It considers the US 'organising model' and its adoption in Australia and the UK, comparing this with the strategies of Italian unions which have been more deliberately focused on precarious and migrant workers. The increasing reliance of US unions on community alliances, as seen in the 'Fight for $15' and similar campaigns, is scrutinised along with new union prototypes like Hospo Voice in Australia, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain and SI Cobas in Italy. The book includes an in-depth analysis of union responses to the gig economy in the four countries, and the emergence of self-organised worker collectives to combat this exploitative business model. The vital role played by unions in defending the interests of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is also examined. As well as highlighting the most successful union initiatives to meet the challenges of the past 30 years, the book assesses the strengths and deficiencies of the legal framework for union representation in the four nations. It identifies the labour law reforms needed to rebuild collectivism, but argues that more is needed than favourable laws. This cross-national study provides a rich basis for identifying the combination of reforms, strategies and linkages required to ensure that unions can remain relevant for a new generation of digitally-active workers.

Winner of the Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society (ANZLHS) Prize for 2023 Maritime workers occupy a central place in global labour history. This new and compelling account from Australia, shows seafaring and waterside unions engaged in a shared history of activism for legally regulated wages and safe liveable conditions for all who go to sea. Maritime Men of the Asia-Pacific provides a corrective to studies which overlook this region’s significance as a provider of the world’s maritime labour force and where unions have a rich history of reaching across their differences to forge connections in solidarity. From the ‘militant young Australian’ Harry Bridges whose progressive unionism transformed the San Francisco waterfront, to Australia’s successful implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, this is a story of vision and leadership on the international stage. Unionists who saw themselves as internationalists were also operating within a national and imperial framework where conflicting interests and differences of race and ideology had to be overcome. Union activists in India, China and Japan struggled against indentured labour and ‘coolie’ standards. They linked with their fellow-unionists in pursuing an ideal of international labour rights against the power of shipowners and anti-union governments. This is a complex story of endurance, cooperation and conflict and its empowering legacy.

Over the years many transnational labor alliances have succeeded in improving conditions for workers, but many more have not. In The New Politics of Transnational Labor, Marissa Brookes explains why this dichotomy has occurred. Using the coordination and context-appropriate (CCAP) theory, she assesses this divergence, arguing that the success of transnational alliances hinges not only on effective coordination across borders and within workers' local organizations but also on their ability to exploit vulnerabilities in global value chains, invoke national and international institutions, and mobilize networks of stakeholders in ways that threaten employers' core, material interests. Brookes uses six comparative case studies spanning four industries, five countries, and fifteen years. From dockside labor disputes in Britain and Australia to service sector campaigns in the supermarket and private security industries to campaigns aimed at luxury hotels in Southeast Asia, Brookes creates her new theoretical framework and speaks to debates in international and comparative political economy on the politics of economic globalization, the viability of private governance, and the impact of organized labor on economic inequality. From this assessment, Brookes provides a vital update to the international relations literature on non-state actors and transnational activism and shows how we can understand the unique capacities labor has as a transnational actor.

This volume discusses the effects of globalization on changing power relationships between transnational corporations (TNCs), and transnational capital, the state, and subnational groups. TNCs have expanded their power with the deepening of market relations, but they are not causing the state to wither away. Indeed, neoliberal changes often occur with the permission or even encouragement of powerful states. Transnational capital has weakened labour groups in order to make production more competitive, but the disadvantaged groups may mobilise to counter the power of transnational capital. Finally, globalization is subjecting domestic policies to increased international scrutiny.

An account of the different ways the diagnosis of ovarian cancer affected two lesbians who were partners and active members of the lesbian community in Melbourne in the 1990s. The book covers the events of the last two and a half years of Maureen O'Connor's life, from initial surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other treatment.

‘In the finish it is ideas which drive change … However, we should never let history, no matter how significant, prevent us from operating more effectively in the interests of workers and the wider society.’ A Long View From the Left is a memoir by Max Odgen, a longtime Australian Communist Party member, unionist and ALP member. Tracing Max’s 60 years as a union and political activist, it offers many rich lessons for everyone involved in the workforce. During his long career Max rose from a metalwork apprentice to shop steward and then a Trade Unions Industrial Officer, where he worked with and alongside the greats of the Australian union and ALP movements such as Laurie Carmichael, Bob Hawke and Bill Kelty. Using his unique combination of persistence, persuasion and wit, he was instrumental in setting up the AMUW education program (in partnership with Laurie Carmichael and Bob Richardson), and his work was crucial to transforming the standards and work practices of many national industries. Max was also witness to and involved with numerous campaigns that shaped Australian society – anti-Vietnam protests, the South African anti-apartheid movement, advocating for a shorter working week and universal health care, as well supporting the role of women in the workforce. As always, his main loyalty was to members of the Australian workforce. His desire for them to be treated with fairness, dignity and pride drove him relentlessly. A Long View From the Left is not only a fascinating and personal record of contemporary cultural and political ideas, but a revealing and valuable contribution to our social history. Max Ogden was born in Melbourne in 1938. Born into a predominantly left-wing family, Max was asked to leave Cubs because he refused to sing God Save the Queen and salute the flag. Max rose to prominence as a union representative with the AMWU. Over his sixty-year career Max was involved in many of the pivotal demonstration campaigns that shaped Australian society, and he continues to write and speak on contemporary labour and industrial relations matters today. ‘I know of no one who writes so well about the Australian labour/Labor movement, its past, as well as its possible futures.’ — Brian Howe, former Australian Deputy Prime Minister 1991–1995 ‘In many ways the AMWU’s education program set the pattern for worker education in this period, and Max as Victorian Education Officer was crucial to its success ....’ — Andrew Dettmer, National President, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) ‘Max is one of those people who helped make the Australian social democratic system. His story adds weight and interest to the Australian model.’ Bill Kelty , Ex-Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, 1983-2000 ‘You will be inspired and instructed about how to effectively tackle our future challenges.’ — Anna Booth, Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission ‘Max’s story gives great insight into an important part of our Australian working class and union history.’ Michele O’Neil, ACTU President