Agents of (Re)mobilisation? The Role and Potential of Queensland's Regional Labour Councils

ABSTRACT

Australia has long had an institutionalised structure for localised union activity in the form of regional labour councils. Based on an empirical study of such councils in Queensland, this article examines the role of these bodies in creating favourable conditions at the local level for union movement strategy. Following the work of Briggs and of Ellem and Shields, the agency of regional labour councils is explored in three areas: mobilisation, exchange and regulation. The study finds that while regional labour councils face a variety of industrial and structural challenges in these respects, they perform important functions and provide the nucleus for a more broadly based union movement.