Unite is a former

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

established in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which now describes itself as a 'young workers' campaign group'. Unite was never registered as a union under the ''

Fair Work Act 2009 The ''Fair Work Act 2009'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. Replacing the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, the Act established ...

''. Its inspiration was the

Unite Union Unite Union (Unite) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents a number of workers across various industries, and was the sponsor of the campaign directed towards improving working conditions for fast food workers in the country, in addit ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. When it was a union, Unite's goal was said to be to organise young workers in fast food and retail in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Its establishment in 2006 angered the union with registered coverage of these workers, the

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is a private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in each state and territory. Its membership is predominantly ...

(SDA). It argued that having a rival union would create disunity when the focus should have been on

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

and

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...

, the controversial labour laws that had been introduced at that time, but which have since been abolished. Michael Donovan, Victorian SDA Secretary, said the "...SDA is the union to look after the interests of young people in the retail industry and fast-food industry..." Unite was critical of the SDA's negotiated workplace agreements that reduced wages to below the Award rate. Unite announced its decision to cease calling itself a trade union on 30 December 2016, and the decision was said to take effect from 1 January 2017. This decision was due to the creation of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, a new union created for more or less the same purpose as Unite – namely, to act as a more progressive alternative to the SDA – but which Unite acknowledged was better-resourced than it.

References

External links

Official website

''Solidarity'' article''Green Left Weekly'' article attacking the SDA
- Young workers need fighting Unions {{Portal, Organized labour Defunct trade unions of Australia Retail trade unions Trade unions established in 2006 2006 establishments in Australia 2016 disestablishments in Australia