A care union in a time of austerity

Abstract

In Australia, the community sector has historically been ‘on the edge’ in terms of the challenges that confront it even in good times. The new ‘welfare austerity’ and the ever-growing incursion of the New Public Management have, however, intensified these challenges. As is the case elsewhere in the world, abolition, cost-cutting and outsourcing of government services are forcing private sector care providers to do more with less, impacting negatively on client welfare, service delivery and employees’ pay, conditions and working environments. This article examines challenges facing the care sector in the state of Queensland and their impact on a key ‘care union’, The Services Union. Analysis of these challenges and the union’s responses makes a conceptual contribution to the role of unions in the web of care that binds together citizens – including employees, those who manage care organisations, and care recipients, their families and their advocates.

Keywords:

• union strategy
• care sector
• welfare austerity

Notes

1. Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (2009) Decision re Queensland Community Services and Crisis Assistance Award – State 2008. Commissioner G Fisher (6 May 2009).

2. Equal Remuneration Case (2012) FWAFB 1000 (1 February 2012).

3. Income below 50% of the national median and unable to access funds in an emergency; living in a jobless household; poor self-assessed health; school education below Year 10 completion; feeling unsafe at home after dark; and unable to access support in times of crisis.

4. TSU’s full name is the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union Queensland (Services and Northern Administrative) Branch and the Queensland Services, Industrial Union of Employees. The ASU has two branches in Queensland, the other being Together Queensland, or in full the Australian Service Union Central and Southern Queensland Clerical and Administrative Branch, a 2011 amalgamation of the Queensland Public Sector Union and the ASU Central and Southern Queensland Branch. NSW and Victoria have a similar two-branch ASU structure, driven by a mix of historical issues and intra-union politics. TSU’s core membership was originally in local government, various corporatised government utilities and other service areas such as the community sector, whereas its Queensland sister union’s was in the former Federated Clerks’ Union.