Australian Left Review
Article Title
Review : Power, Conflict and Control in Australian Trade Unions edited by Kathryn Cole
Abstract
This collection of essays on various aspects of the trade unions is most timely, given that many in the radical and industrial movement are embarking on the further development of a forward-looking strategy. It presents to the reader discussion on a wide range of subjects including the relationship of the trade unions to the ALP, a number of views and descriptions of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, the media's manipulation of the trade union image — and other aspects such as the ACTU, trade union democracy, shop-floor activity, the union activity of women and so on. The writers are many and varied and range from Sir Richard Kirby, with his scarcely-concealed dislike for the Fraser government's attempts to coerce the court, to a fine socio-political treatment of the law and industrial conflict by Breen Creighton of Melbourne University. They manage to cover a wide range of trade union territory.