Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union

Last updated

APTU
Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union
Merged into Communication Workers Union of Australia
Founded1925
Dissolved1992
Headquarters37/39 Drummond St, Carlton, Victoria [1]
Location
  • Australia
Members
47,000 (1979) [1]
Affiliations ACTU, CAGEO, ALP, Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International [1]

The Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union (APTU) was an Australian trade union which represented a wide range of employees in the postal and telecommunication industries, including postmen, postal and mail officers, delivery drivers, storemen, linesmen and telegram messengers. [1] It was founded in 1925 and merged into the Communication Workers Union of Australia (CWU) in 1992. [2]

History

The Amalgamated Postal Workers Union float at the South Australian Labour Day parade, 1936. APWU float.jpg
The Amalgamated Postal Workers Union float at the South Australian Labour Day parade, 1936.

The union was formed on 1 July 1925 as the Amalgamated Postal Linemen's, Sorters' and Letter Carriers' Union of Australia, through the amalgamation of the previously-independent Australian Postal Linesmen's Union, Australian Letter Carriers Association and Postal Sorters Union of Australia. The amalgamation process was opposed by the Victorian branch of the Letter Carriers' Association, as well as the Federated Public Service Assistants Association of Australia and the Australian Public Service Board. These groups launched an unsuccessful appeal against the amalgamation to the Commonwealth Arbitration Court. [3] :19

In 1926 the union's name was simplified to the Amalgamated Postal Workers Union of Australia. [2] The union's name was changed again in 1974 to the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union. [2] By 1987 the union's membership had grown to 48,800, of whom 53.1% were employed by Telecom. [4] :36 In 1990 the APTEU absorbed the Union of Postal Clerks and Telegraphists, followed by the Australian Postmasters Association in 1991 and the Postal Supervisory Officers Association in 1992. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William McCormack</span>

William McCormack was Premier of Queensland, Australia, from 1925 to 1929.

The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exercised an outsized influence on the Australian Trade Union movement and on the Australian Labor Party throughout its history.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is a public-sector trade union representing postal workers including letter carriers, rural and suburban mail carriers, postal clerks, mail handlers and dispatchers, technicians, mechanics and electricians employed at Canada Post as well as private sector workers outside Canada Post. Currently comprising upwards of 50,000 members, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has historically been labeled as militant because of some of the actions undertaken since its inception in 1965 to help guarantee rights to all postal workers. According to former president Jean-Claude Parrot, "We succeeded to get the support of the membership because we earned our credibility with them...we got that reputation [of militancy] because we earned it."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Council of Unions</span>

The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) is a representative, an advocacy group, or peak body, of Queensland trade union organisations, also known as a labour council, in the Queensland, Australia. As of 2020, 26 unions and 13 regional branches were affiliated with the QCU. The QCU represents unions covering around 350,000 Queensland workers. It is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Its offices are located in the suburb of South Brisbane, Queensland. As a peak body for the Queensland trade unions, the objective of the QCU is to achieve industrial, social and political justice for Queensland workers. The management structure of the QCU is made up of a committee of management and an executive of representatives comprised from affiliated unions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Services Union</span> Australian trade union

The Australian Services Union is a trade union representing workers in a variety of industries.


The Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) was the principal trade union for merchant seamen in Australia from 1876 to 1991. The SUA developed a reputation as one of the most militant trade unions in Australia and was closely associated with the communist movement in Australia. The SUA merged in 1993 with the Waterside Workers' Federation to become the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Postal Mail Handlers Union</span> American labor union

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) is a progressive labor union representing more than 50,000 Mail Handler craft members in United States Postal Service facilities across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communication Workers Union of Australia</span> Australian trade union

The Communication Workers Union of Australia is a trade union in Australia. It is a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amalgamated Engineering Union</span> Trade union in the UK

The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union</span> Former trade union of the United Kingdom

The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post Office Engineering Union</span> Former trade union of the United Kingdom

The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil and Public Services Association</span> Former trade union of the United Kingdom

The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants.

Manufacturing Grocers' Employees' Federation of Australia (M.G.U.) was an Australian trade union existing between 1906 and 1988. The union was first established as the Federated Candle, Soap, Soda & Starch Employees' Union of Australia, before changing its name in 1914. The union represented workers employed in manufacturing grocers' sundries and non-edible grocery products, particularly in the southern states of South Australia and Victoria. In 1988 the union amalgamated with the Federated Millers and Mill Employees' Union to form the Federated Millers and Manufacturing Grocers Employees' Association of Australia, which in turn merged with a number of unions to form the National Union of Workers.

Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (FLAIEU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1992. It represented workers employed in hospitality, catering, breweries and alcohol retailing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of Draughting, Supervisory and Technical Employees</span>

The Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees (ADSTE), originally known as the Association of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia (AAESDA), was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1991. It represented white collar and technical-grade employees in both the private sector and the public service.

The Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia (FMMUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1899 and 1983. It represented moulders – skilled tradesmen who fabricated the moulds for casting metal products in foundries. In spite of only organising within a single skilled occupation, which kept total membership low, the vital position of moulders in major industries such as mining, manufacturing and the railways, ensured that the union remained industrially powerful with a reputation for being highly militant.

The Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association (ATEA) was an Australian trade union representing technical and trades employees in the telecommunications industry from 1912 to 1992. Its members were primarily employed by the Postmaster-General's Department, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board and the Department of Posts and Telecommunications.

The Australian Telephone and Phonogram Officers Association was an Australian trade union representing telephonists, phonogram operators and telex service operators in the Australian Public Service. It existed from 1914 to 1992.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Huntley, Pat (1980). Inside Australia's Top 100 Unions. Middle Cove, NSW: Ian Huntley (Aust.). pp. 186–189. ISBN   978-0-9598507-4-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Bruce A. (20 April 2001). "Amalgamated Postal Workers Union of Australia (1926 - 1974)". Australian Trade Union Archives. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. Waters, Frank (1978). Murphy, Denis (ed.). Postal Unions & Politics: a History of the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union of Australia. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press. ISBN   0-7022-1198-2.
  4. Bolton, Brian (1993). Telecommunications Services: Negotiating Structural and Technological Change. Geneva: International Labour Organisation. ISBN   92-2-108263-6.