AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION POLITICS IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: WHICH WAY FORWARD?

Abstract

At a time when the ACTU aims at taking advantage of the new legislative ground to capitalise in membership growth, this paper sets out to explore prospects for the future of solidarity by providing a wider perspective. After echoing calls for a revitalisation of trade unions, attention is given to social movements that emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century in protest against globalisation. A heuristic presentation of the labour problem in the light of those movements is then provided. Acknowledging the recent convergence between international labour and global justice movements, and the shift of labour internationalism towards new politics of contention and campaigning, the concluding section attempts to critically examine what is in store for Australian organised labour.