Organized labour in the borderless world: globalization,deregulation and union strategy in Australia

Recent Australian federal governments have responded to broadening global markets and expanding international trade with policies of deregulation, labour market reform and industrial relations decentralization. This has thrown up major challenges for unions across the board, but the differential impacts of policy on different parts of industry and the labour market mean that the challenges facing different unions are likely to vary significantly. Using data from our 1996 Australian National Trade Union Survey, we investigate the degree to which particular rypes of unions favour specific strategic orientations. We find systematic differences between blue-collar and production industry unions on one hand, and white-collar and service industry unions on the other. On this basis, we make inferences about the likely future of Australian unions.