Federated Clerks' Union of Australia

Last updated

The Federated Clerks Union of Australia (FCU) was an Australian trade union representing clerical workers, in existence from 1911 to 1993, [1] when it amalgamated with the Australian Services Union.

Contents

History

Between 1900 and 1907, attempts were made to organise clerks in different parts of Australia. In Victoria the Union of Clerks was founded in 1901, and in South Australian an Associate of Clerks and in New South Wales a Clerks' Union were formed in 1905. [2]

The FCU was formed in Melbourne in 1911, and was registered with the Commonwealth Arbitration Court the same year. It grew to include branches in all states by 1920, consolidating several pre-existing state unions, and held its first federal conference in 1916. It changed its name to the Australian Clerical Association in 1917, but reverted to its former name in 1924. [1] [3] [4] [5]

Political position

The union drastically shifted ideological direction throughout its history. In the 1940s, it had a significant communist influence, with high-profile figures like Jack Hughes holding key union offices.

In the early 1950s, the union was successfully targeted and taken over by the conservative Industrial Groups, which subsequently played a role in the Australian Labor Party split of 1955, and the union was one of four unions disaffiliated from the Australian Labor Party. It was a key right-wing union for decades afterwards.

The union was taken over by moderate left-wing members in the 1980s in a push associated with Lindsay Tanner. [6] [7] The FCU was the first of four unions disaffiliated after the split of 1955 to attempt to return at the ALP Victorian State Conference in 1983. [8] The Federated Clerks' case, 'after a bitter and at times acrimonious 3 and a 1/2 hour debate', which was 'centered on alleged links' with Santamaria, the National Civic Council, and the Industrial Action Fund, was defeated at the State Conference by 289 votes to 189. [8] It was noted in a news report of the time that all four unions were likely to appeal to the federal ALP executive and that they had the support of then Prime Minister Bob Hawke. [8] The ALP federal executive supported the re-affiliation before the 1985 Victorian State Conference [9] while two of the unions, including the FCU, were refused re-affiliation in the Northern Territory later that year. [10]

Ultimately, all four unions reaffiliated with ALP in some form, the FCU through amalgamation with the Australian Services Union in 1993.

Amalgamation

In 1993, the FCU joined the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees Union (MEU) and the Australian Municipal, Transport, Energy, Water, Ports, Community & Information Services Union (which was also known as the Australian Services Union at the time) into a new union also called the Australian Services Union. [1] The new union kept the affiliation with the ALP of its predecessor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Labor Party</span> Federal political party in Australia

The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the federal government since being elected in the 2022 election. The ALP is a federal party, with political branches in each state and territory. They are currently in government in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory. They are currently in opposition in New South Wales and Tasmania. It is the oldest political party in Australia, being established on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne, the meeting place of the first federal Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Forde</span> Prime Minister of Australia in 1945

Francis Michael Forde was an Australian politician who served as prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946. He served as prime minister in a caretaker capacity after the death of John Curtin, and is the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. A. Santamaria</span>

Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria, usually known as B. A. Santamaria, was an Australian Roman Catholic anti-Communist political activist and journalist. He was a guiding influence in the founding of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).

In British politics, an affiliated trade union is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and socialist societies in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee and the unions have retained close institutional links with it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Tanner</span> Australian politician

Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he represented the seat of Melbourne in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2010 and served as Minister for Finance in the Rudd and Gillard Governments from 2007 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Manufacturing Workers Union</span> Trade union in Australia

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing sector, as well as associated industries, and is affiliated to the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

<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">Dorothy Tangney</span> Australian politician

Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to the Senate and one of the first two women elected to federal parliament, along with Enid Lyons.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport Workers' Union of Australia</span> Trade union

The Transport Workers' Union of Australia (TWU) is a trade union with members throughout Australia. It has 5 main branches based in: Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales; Queensland; Victoria/Tasmania; South Australia/Northern Territory; and Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne McEwen (politician)</span> Australian politician

Anne McEwen is a former Australian politician who served as a Labor member of the Australian Senate for South Australia from 2005 to 2016.

Ralph Desmond Clarke is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the South Australian House of Assembly between 1993 and 2002, representing the electorate of Ross Smith. He was the deputy leader of the State Parliamentary Labor Party, and thus the deputy opposition leader, until he was deposed in factional infighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Butler</span> Australian politician

Mark Christopher Butler is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Clarey</span> Australian politician (1890–1960)

Percy James Clarey was an Australian trade union leader and politician. He served as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 1943 to 1949 and represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the Victorian Legislative Council (1937−1949) and Australian House of Representatives (1949−1960).

Brian William Courtice is a former Australian politician and trade unionist. He represented the Division of Hinkler in federal parliament from 1987 to 1993 as a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was expelled from the party in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Katz</span> Australian politician

Frederick Carl Katz was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He had a long association with the Australian labour movement, holding senior leadership positions with the Federated Clerks' Union, Federal Miscellaneous Workers' Union, and the Melbourne Trades Hall. He served as a Senator for Victoria from 1947 to 1951, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. Santamaria, the dominant force behind the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" or "the Movement".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia</span>

The Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia (FIA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1911 and 1991. It represented labourers and semi-skilled workers employed in the steel industry and ironworking, and later also the chemical industry.

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 Transport Officers' Federation (ATOF) was an Australian trade union representing salaried officers in the transport sector, particularly in the rail and airline industries. It existed from 1924 until 1991, and was previously known as the Federation of Salaried Officers of Railways Commissioners (1924–1947) and the Australasian Transport Officers Federation (1947–1978). The union had a policy of supporting conciliation and arbitration and against strike action until 1970.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Federated Clerks Union of Australia (ii) (1924 - 1993)". Australian Trade Union Archives. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Our History".
  3. ↑ "Federated Clerks' Union". The Age. 21 June 1913. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Federated Clerks' Union of Australia" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "History of the ASU". Together Queensland. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Ellem, Bradon (August 1997). "Ideology and Union Purpose: The Federated Clerks' Union in New South Wales, 1946-58". Australian Journal of Politics & History. 43 (3): 344–360. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8497.1997.tb01395.x.
  7. ↑ Robinson, Geoffrey (May 2014). "From Socialism to Communitarianism: Lindsay Tanner and the Crisis of the Australian Left After Globalisation". Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series. 5 (2): 7. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.570.6917 .
  8. 1 2 3 "Bitter debate ALP vote keeps union out". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 24 June 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Unions and the ALP". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 20 March 1985. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Unions refused affiliation". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 5 May 1985. p. 1. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.