Unite is a former

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 ( ...

established in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, which now describes itself as a 'young workers' campaign group'. Unite was never registered as a union under the ''

Fair Work Act 2009 The ''Fair Work Act 2009'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd Government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fair ...

''. Its inspiration was the

Unite Union Unite Union (Unite) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents a number of workers across various industries, and was the sponsor of thSupersizemypay.comcampaign directed towards improving working conditions for fast food workers in the cou ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. When it was a union, Unite's goal was said to be to organise young workers in fast food and retail in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Its establishment in 2006 angered the union with registered coverage of these workers, the

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is the largest private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in every state and territory. Its membership is pre ...

(SDA). It argued that having a rival union would create disunity when the focus should have been on

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

and

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices ...

, the controversial labour laws that had been introduced at that time, but which have since been abolished. Michael Donovan, Victorian SDA Secretary, said the "...SDA is the union to look after the interests of young people in the retail industry and fast-food industry..." Unite was critical of the SDA's negotiated workplace agreements that reduced wages to below the Award rate. Unite announced its decision to cease calling itself a trade union on 30 December 2016, and the decision was said to take effect from 1 January 2017. This decision was due to the creation of the

Retail and Fast Food Workers Union The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (known as RAFFWU) is an Australian trade union for workers in the retail and fast food industries. History The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union was established in December 2016 as a response to increased ...

, a new union created for more or less the same purpose as Unite – namely, to act as a more progressive alternative to the SDA – but which Unite acknowledged was better-resourced than it.

References

External links

Official website

''Solidarity'' article''Green Left Weekly'' article attacking the SDA
- Young workers need fighting Unions {{Portal, Organized labour Defunct trade unions of Australia Retail trade unions Trade unions established in 2006 2006 establishments in Australia 2016 disestablishments in Australia