Major Australian Union Pushes for Non-Members to Pay Up

Construction workers are seen in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 1, 2021. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

One of Australia’s largest unions wants to see non-union members pay them for any future successful negotiations for higher wages and conditions.

This is despite union membership falling to an all-time low in 2022.

Union membership has been on the decline in Australia for decades, and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union—one of the country’s largest—would like to reverse this.

“Imagine walking into a fishing club or a footy club and demanding all the benefits without being a member. You wouldn’t even get through the door,” said Steve Murphy, national secretary of the AMWU.

“But that’s the situation we have at the moment in our workplaces. Many thousands of workers benefit from the outcomes of collective bargaining agreements fought for by unions but don’t join union members in the fight for higher wages, safer conditions, and better workplace rights.”

Such a move to compel non-union members to pay would give the organisations a major financial boost, particularly in light of declining membership numbers which have eroded the monetary base of unions.

Unions Dying Out In Australia

The move comes after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the rate of union membership fell in 2022 to an all-time low of 12.5 percent for the 11.4 million employed Australians in August 2022. This is a decrease from the 14.3 percent which was recorded in August 2020.

“Trade union membership has generally declined since 1992. From 1992 to 2022, the proportion of employees who were trade union members has fallen from 41.1 percent to 12.5 percent (from 45.5 percent to 11.4 percent for men and 35.9 percent to 13.6 percent for women),” the ABS said in their report.

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese (centre) and ACTU President Michele O'Neil (4th left) take part in the 2021 Labour Day March in Brisbane, Australia, on May 3, 2021. AAP Image/Dan Peled

The ABS statistics also revealed that younger people are no longer actively joining trade unions, with just two percent of employees aged 15-19 years and five percent of those aged 20-24 becoming members. This is in comparison to 19 percent for employees aged 55-59 and 21 percent for employees aged 60-64.

Currently, the peak union body, Australian Unions, notes the first monthly fee for apprentices, contractors, casuals, and part-timers are set at $56 for a full-time membership and $28 for part-time members as part of their new campaign to attract more members.

However, union membership can cost upwards of $500 annually with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), for example, charging adult full members $530 annually.

Australians Have a Right Not to Join, Says Opposition

Opposition workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said it was disgraceful to force workers to pay for services they did not ask for.

“It is nothing more than the ailing union movement’s way of propping up their declining membership,” she told AAP. “Australians have the right not to join a union, and they should never be forced to do so.”

Senator Michaelia Cash during an appearance at Education and Employment Committee at Parliament House on March 25, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. Sam Mooy/Getty Images

The senator criticised the Albanese government’s recently passed Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill that will enable “multi-employer bargaining” meaning businesses could be compelled into entering sector-wide negotiations on wages and conditions, rather than have workplace negotiations occur on a business-by-business basis.

At the time, the Business Council of Australia opposed the move saying it undermined competitiveness.

“Now, I represent these [small] companies, but it is not a good thing for the big employers to be forced to bargain together,” CEO Jennifer Westacott told ABC radio.

“That’s not going to be good for small business, that’s not going to be good for innovation, that’s going to be anti-competitive.”