Federated Clerks' Union of Australia
The Federated Clerks Union of Australia was an Australian trade union representing clerical workers, in existence from 1911 to 1993.[1]
It was formed in Melbourne in 1911, and was registered with the Commonwealth Arbitration Court the same year. It grew to include branches in all states by 1920, consolidating several pre-existing state unions, and held its first federal conference in 1916. It briefly renamed itself the Australian Clerical Association in 1917, but reverted to its former name in 1924.[1][2][3][4]
The union drastically shifted ideological direction throughout its history. In the 1940s, it had a significant communist presence, with high-profile figures like Jack Hughes holding key union offices. In the early 1950s, it was successfully targeted and taken over by the conservative Industrial Groups, which subsequently played a role in the Australian Labor Party split of 1955. It was a key right-wing union for decades afterwards, but was taken over by moderate left-wing members in the 1980s in a push associated with Lindsay Tanner.[5][6]
In 1993, it amalgamated with several other unions to form the Australian Services Union.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 "Federated Clerks Union of Australia (ii) (1924 - 1993)". Australian Trade Union Archives. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ "Federated Clerks' Union". The Age. 21 June 1913. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ "Federated Clerks' Union of Australia" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ "History of the ASU". Together Queensland. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ Ellem, Bradon (August 1997). "Ideology and Union Purpose: The Federated Clerks' Union in New South Wales, 1946-58". Australian Journal of Politics & History 43 (3): 344–360.
- ↑ Robinson, Geoffrey (May 2014). "From Socialism to Communitarianism: Lindsay Tanner and the Crisis of the Australian Left After Globalisation" (PDF). Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series 5 (2): 7.