The Electrical Trades Union of Australia (ETU) is an Australian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

. The ETU is a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), and is the largest of the three divisions. Under State Government laws, the union often exists as a separately registered union.

History

On 24 December 1919 Electrical Trades Union of Australia federally re-registered under the

Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 The ''Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904'' (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which established the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, besides other things, and sought to introduce the rule of law i ...

as an association of employees. This date is now taken as the official registration date of the Federal Union. In 1985, ETU members were sacked after the

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

Government sacked them for refusing to sign individual contracts (''see:'' SEQEB strike of Queensland, 1985). In 2005, plans were made to picket the former premier's

State funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of ...

, however those plans were subsequently abandoned following requests by the union leadership. In 2007, the ETU leader Dean Mighell was expelled from the

Australian Labor Party 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 t ...

for supporting the Greens during the federal election. In the lead-up to the 2010 federal election, the Victorian ETU withdrew its support for the Labor Party, citing Labor's refusal to scrap laws restricting union action on building sites. However, since then it has rejoined in the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Traditionally the ETU has sided with the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

or equivalent faction in the state branches of the ALP with the notable exception of the ACT and NSW, where it aligns with the respective Centre Coalition and Centre Unity (

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

) factions. It enjoys a close relationship there with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and the

Australian Workers Union 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 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

(AWU). Despite reaffiliating with Victorian Labor, in the leadup to the 2018 Victorian Election the ETU donated $50,000 towards a competing party, the Victorian Socialists. In November 2019, the ETU ceased donations to the federal Labor party over

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...

's government supporting free trade agreements.

References

External links

* Trade unions in Australia Trade unions established in 1919 1919 establishments in Australia Electricians' trade unions {{Australia-trade-union-stub