- by Arthur Martin
- The Guardian
- Issue #2203
Victorian Labor have introduced a bill, the Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill 2026, which sets out a pathway for forcibly ending the operations of unregistered associations that engage in industrial relations.
WHO STANDS TO LOSE OUT?
There are currently a number of unregistered trade unions who could be forced to cease operating under this bill. These organisations could lose their right to exist and carry out their activities under this bill, leaving industrial relations only to the registered trade unions.
A TALE OF TWO TYPES OF UNREGISTERED UNION
Of these unregistered unions, there are the so-called “Red Unions” (e.g. the Teachers Professional Association of Australia, the Nurses Professional Association of Australia and the Professional Drivers Association of Australia). The Communist Party of Australia has condemned these false unions. Despite the rhetoric and claims of being member-led organisations closer examination revealed that they were organisations with ties to the Liberal/National Coalition that had no intention of representing their members.
There is also the Retail and Fast Food Workers’ Union (RAFFWU), an unregistered trade union that emerged following the revelation in 2016 that the registered Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) had agreed to enterprise agreements with Coles that left hundreds of thousands of workers worse off overall than the modern award minimums. Since its formation, RAFFWU has undertaken industrial campaigns that have significantly benefited the retail industry, recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in backpay for workers in the industry.
REGISTRATION AS A WEAPON
The use of registration as a tool is not new. In the 1930s, the Pastoral Workers’ Industrial Union (PWIU) broke off from the Australian Worker’s Union (AWU) following the latter’s endorsement of industry-wide paycuts. The breakaway union, under communist leadership, was unregistered for most of its existence.
Its existence was opposed by the AWU as well as the employers’ association, with its lack of registration being wielded to attempt to delegitimise it to the pastoral workers.
The Building Workers’ Industrial Union of Australia (BWIU) was deregistered in 1948, while under communist leadership, in retribution for strike action over an issue that the courts at the time had dismissed.
The Builders Labourers’ Federation (BLF), also under communist leadership, was sensationally deregistered in 1986, on the surface over allegations of corruption, but in practice with the intention of defanging a militant working class organisation.
Under the Fair Work Act, a new union cannot be registered if there is an existing union that already covers the industry or occupation. This simple clause prevents new unions from gaining registration. It is the reason the Red Unions and RAFFWU are unregistered .
Registration, ostensibly to prevent corrupt organisations from gaining influence, in reality acts as a dog collar that monopolises the practice of trade unionism within a narrow band of political and industrial strategy.
The takeaway from this is that registration is a weapon. A union gaining registration status unlocks legal rights and privileges that unregistered unions do not have. The ability to take away a union’s registration is leverage over them to ensure that they act a certain way politically and industrially.
This bill takes things one step further. By having the right to disband unregistered unions, the dog collar has tightened further, with workers being threatened with no alternative regardless of who they determine to be their best representation.
IF IT ACTS LIKE A UNION, IT IS A UNION
The Red Unions deserve condemnation and their loss would not be a bad thing for the organised labour movement in Australia. Their actions are not the actions of a legitimate trade union. There is no effort to effectively represent members, to organise them, or to advance their interests. They have no legitimacy.
RAFFWU, by contrast, is legitimised by its actions. As an organisation of workers it has been more effective than the currently registered union. They have pushed the boundaries and secured real outcomes for their members, and their existence forces the whole industry into a better position.
The loss of RAFFWU would be detrimental to workers in the industry, setting back their gains and ensuring that the SDA can return to the sweetheart arrangements it previously enjoyed with major employers. J
