SA Unions (originally the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia) is the

peak body A peak organisation or peak body is an Australian term for an advocacy group or trade association, an association of industries or groups with allied interests. They are generally established for the purposes of developing standards and processes, ...

for

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 ( ...

s in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It coordinates political, social, economic, and industrial campaigns between its affiliate members and implements the policies of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and la ...

in South Australia.

Campaigns

As well as implementing policy within South Australia, SA Unions aims to maximise the union movement's effect in political, social, economic and industrial issues; defend and extend the rights of working people and all disadvantaged members of the community; increase the support and relevance of unions; and provide leadership and co-ordination in issues of broad concern to unions and the community. During the 2014 state election, SA Unions ran a targeted campaign of over 190,000 robocalls against

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...

and his ticket, the

Nick Xenophon Team Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Represe ...

, in response to their policy of reducing penalty rates for weekend workers.

Services

SA Unions operates two in-house

legal services In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

. The ''Workers Compensation Service'' provides free advocacy and dispute resolution to workers undergoing a workers compensation claim. The ''Young Workers Legal Service'' provides free legal assistance to non-unionised workers under the age of 30 who are experiencing an

industrial law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

dispute. The service is staffed by

law student Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular j ...

volunteers, and has recovered over $1 million in unpaid entitlements since it was created in 2003.

Affiliated organisations

SA Unions is affiliated with 27 unions within South Australia, including the Australian Education Union (AEU), Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), Australian Services Union (ASU), Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Communications, Electrical, and Plumbing Union (CEPU), Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), United Firefighters Union (UFU), and United Voice (UV).

History

A United Trades and Labor Council meeting with the purpose of creating an elections committee was convened on 12 December 1890, and held on 7 January 1891. The elections committee was formed, marking the inception of what is today known as the

Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) The Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), commonly known as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed in 1891 as the United Labor Party of South Australia. It is one of two ...

. Originally known as the United Labor Party of South Australia, the party enjoyed immediate success, electing parliamentarians just four months later, and immediately held the balance of power with 10 of 54 seats resulting from the 1893 election, allowing radical liberal

Charles Kingston Charles Cameron Kingston (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was a radical liberal Premier of South Australia, occupying this office with the support of Labor, which in the House of Assembly ...

to defeat the conservative

John Downer Sir John William Downer, KCMG, KC (6 July 1843 – 2 August 1915) was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia, from 1885 to 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893. He later entered federal politics and served as ...

government. Kingston served as

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

for a then-record of six and a half years, usually implementing legislation with Labor support. Thomas Price formed the state's first Labor

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

and the world's first stable Labor Party government at the 1905 election with the support of several non-Labor MPs to form the Price-Peake administration, which was re-elected at the 1906 double dissolution election, with Labor falling just two seats short of a majority. So successful,

John Verran John Verran (9 July 1856 – 7 June 1932) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as premier of South Australia from 1910 to 1912, the second member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position. Verran was b ...

led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election, just two weeks after the 1910 federal election where their federal counterparts formed Australia's first elected majority in either house in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

, the world's first Labor Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labor Party government at a national level. The Australian Labor Party at both a federal and state/colony level pre-dates, among others, both the British Labour Party and the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

in party formation, government, and policy implementation. In less than two decades the party in South Australia went from inception to majority government, and would continue to this day as one of the two

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

in the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

, the other being the

Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division) The Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), commonly known as the South Australian Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) in 1932 and b ...

created in 1974, and its predecessors. The United Trades and Labour Council was central to fundraising and building support for the creation of the Port Adelaide Workers Memorial. SA Unions continues to have representatives on the committee managing the memorial.

References

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External links