Why union reform is vital for Australia’s future

Today’s Australian carries a powerful article by Kevin Rudd’s former speech-writer, Troy Bramston, on the need for trade union reform.

 Sensible Labor figures are like Bramston increasingly recognising that a corrupt and out of touch union movement is bad for workers and bad for Australia’s future.

 The problem is that at the same time as workers are deserting unions in droves, militant unions like the CFMEU have increased their influence inside the ACTU and the Labor Party, as Bramston points out.

 “What is surprising is that the ACTU, which in the past was able to work co-operatively with Labor, is so beholden to militant unions. The case for trade boosting jobs, growth and living standards was accepted decades ago. Yet the unions want to turn back the clock…

 “Moreover, it is astonishing that Labor and the ACTU have not moved to disaffiliate the CFMEU, given the millions of dollars in fines it has received for repeated breaches of the law and recurring allegations of corruption among its senior officials.

 “…Labor is reluctant to stand with workers who are appalled by widespread union fraud and misconduct, and dismayed by union secretaries fixated on political power rather than workplace issues – and who, as a result, have torn up their membership cards in record numbers.”

This is why it’s so important for the Senate to pass the reform legislation the Federal Government has introduced, to ensure union officials actually work in the interests of ordinary workers, rather than their own political and personal interests.

For The Australian’s article (unfortunately behind their paywall), see Where workers don’t count.