United Voice was a large Australian trade union, with over 130,000 members. United Voice members worked in a wide range of occupations including

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...

, childcare, teachers' aides, aged care, property services (cleaning, security, maintenance etc.), health, manufacturing, ambulance workers (in some states) and community services. The union was established in 1992 as the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) (the "Missos") following the amalgamation of the

Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia The Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union (F.M.W.U.), commonly known as the 'Missos', was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1992. It represented an extremely diverse and disparate range of occupations, but its core support ...

(FMWU) and

Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (FLAIEU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1992. It represented workers employed in hospitality, catering, breweries and alcohol retailing. Formati ...

(LTU). It was renamed United Voice from 1 March 2011. United Voice was one of the most powerful unions in 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 ...

faction of 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 ...

. In 2018, the union began plans to merge with the

National Union of Workers The National Union of Workers was an Australian trade union formed in 1989. History The National Union of Workers of Australia was formed by a progressive amalgamation of unions from 1989 onwards in a time when all Australian unions were merging ...

. In June 2019, the Fair Work Commission approved a vote on the proposed merger between the two unions, to be held in August. On 30 August 2019 the Australian Electoral Commission declared the result of the vote, with just over 95% of members supporting the amalgamation. The name of the new union is the United Workers Union. On 11 November 2019, the new United Workers Union was formed.

History

Foundation and early years

United Voice was first established in 1910 as the Watchmen, Caretakers and Cleaners Union of New South Wales (W.C.C.U.), which was created by the Organising Committee of the New South Wales Labor Council. The task of organisation was a difficult one, due to the casualised and isolated nature of the occupations covered. Under the leadership of the first Secretary of the WCCU, Joe Coote, the union adopted a pragmatic approach to increasing union membership, by including any workers not already represented by trade unions, such as paintmaking employees. To reflect the growing range of industries represented, on 15 December 1915 the union amalgamated with the Victorian Branch and changed its name to the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union. After steady growth over the first half of the century, including winning paid

sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...

annual leave Annual leave is a period of paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to giv ...

and a forty-hour week, the union really took off in the 1950s. A new rank-and-file leadership led by

Ray Gietzelt Ray Gietzelt AO (29 September 192212 October 2012) was a major figure in the Australian union movement in the latter part of the 20th century. He led the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia (FMWU; later known as United Voice) f ...

took over to create a vibrant, member-driven union. Famous campaigns during the 1950s and 1960s included organising workers paid to be

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

es at Christmas and a group of dance instructors who were locked out for four months before winning their jobs back. The strength of the "Missos" continued to grow over the years, with membership increasing from 25,000 in 1955 to 88,000 by 1975.

Modern era

By the late 1980s, the LHMU had gained a good deal of political power. It benefited from the close links of

to ALP politicians such as

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

, Neville Wran,

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...

and his brother

Arthur Gietzelt Arthur Thomas Gietzelt, AO (28 December 1920 – 5 January 2014) was an Australian politician and minister. Arthur Gietzelt was born in San FranciscoTransport Workers Union in the mid-1990s resulted in the LHMU losing several thousand members. In 1996

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 ...

became Prime Minister, and his government worked to weaken the union movement as a whole, with the result that the LHMU lost further members between 1996 and 2007. Since Howard's defeat in 2007, nevertheless, the union reported a small but steady growth in numbers, even as the membership of most other Australian unions continued to shrink. Its major campaign on cleaners' behalf, called ''Clean Start:Fair Deal for Cleaners'', was inspired by the successful American campaign called Justice for Janitors. The strong links with prominent ALP figures continued. Former cabinet ministers

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

and

Mark Butler Mark Christopher Butler (born 8 July 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments and al ...

were both LHMU branch officials in South Australia before they entered the federal parliament.

Governance and structure

United Voice was a federation of state and territory branches. Each branch contributes financially to the national office.

National Council

The National Council was the highest decision making body in the union. It was made up of delegates from each Branch of the union, and each section within those Branches. Half of National Council's membership was rank and file members. National Council met in August each year. The Executive carries out the decisions of the Council.

National Executive

The National Executive was the national management committee of United Voice. National Executive met at least twice per year, but usually around four times. Members of National executive were elected to their positions, and there were rules for proper representation of membership sections and gender. The National Secretary were elected officers of the Union who worked as the chief executives and operational managers of the National Union. The National presidents were also elected officers whose role was to chair the Council and Executive meetings.

National Secretary

Jo-Anne Schofield was the National Secretary of United Voice.

State and territory branches

Each state and territory had its own branch of the union, with roughly the same structure as the national office. Each branch had a Branch Council and a Branch Executive.

Affiliations

In Australia, United Voice was affiliated with the

and 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 l ...

. It was also a member of various other not-for-profit organisations such as the Sydney Alliance and SmokeFree Australia. Internationally, the union was affiliated with the

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is a global union federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processin ...

Current and past campaigns

Big Steps Campaign - Early Childhood Educators Stop Work Action - September 2022

''Big Steps'' is a national campaign to increase the wages of

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

workers, across the span of

early childhood education and care Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

(ECEC). United Voice called on the federal government to give childcare centres 1.4 billion in extra funding to increase staff wages without increasing fees for parents. They want the average wage to increase from $18.58 an hour to $26. ''Clean Start: Fair Deal for Cleaners'' was launched by United Voice in 2006, to highlight the problems in the CBD office cleaning industry and improve jobs for cleaners. The focus of the campaign was on fair and safe workloads, respect and fair treatment at work, job security, and higher wages. In September 2011, United Voice joined with many other unions to campaign for marriage equality for same-sex couples. The ''Unions for Marriage Equality'' campaign was timed to start a few months before the Labor National Conference in December 2011. United Voice served on the steering committee for the Responsible Gambling Awareness Week, an annual event that focuses on the promotion of responsible gambling and services that assist people with problem gambling issues throughout Australia.

Criticism

In August 2016, ABC's 7:30 Report "Former United Voice workers accuse the union of hypocrisy" was produced. The Report detailed allegations of mismanagement and bullying Journalist Pat McGrath reported that he had spoken to 15 past and current staff members who alleged that bullying was "rife" in the union, that organisers were put under pressure to reach unattainable targets,ABC.net.au
/ref> and 'counselled out' when they didn't, and that working at the union had taken a mental and physical toll on staff. One staff member claimed he had been stood down after his attempts to negotiate pay and conditions for workers within the union. The union responded that he was stood down due to aggressive behaviour. He was seen reading the book "Spirit Level" on the program, and excerpts of his email asking National Secretary Jo Schofield were screened, showing that he had "respectfully asked" for the creation of a group to represent workers within the union. One staff member was quoted in the program as suffering from physical and mental distress leading to issues such as depression and psoriasis due to the "style of management." They reported that their manager was so strongly supported by senior management that taking any internal action would have led to further anxiety, and they had left the union. In the three years previous to the program, one claim of bullying and one of unfair dismissal were settled by the union. Union money was used to pay for the settlements. The union denied the allegations of the 7:30 Report and noted that it did have an agreement with staff. It did not make the agreement, which is not a public document, available to the 7:30 Report. According to the same ABC article referenced above, the union further denied that the organisation had a culture of bullying and additionally denied claims that it refused to negotiate employment conditions with its staff.

References

External links

Explanation of the name changeAustralian Council of Trade UnionsNSW Branch WebsiteWA Branch Facebook PageUnited Voice National Website
{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of Australia General unions Trade unions established in 1910 1910 establishments in Australia