Academic literature on the topic 'Australian Building Construction Employees' and Builders' Labourers' Federation'

Australia, during the twenty five years that followed the end of the Second World War, experienced increased prosperity and a stable industrial relations system in which the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (the federal commission) played a dominant and authoritative role. The NSW building boom which began in the latter part of the 1950s introduced new technology, concentrated building workers in the central business district of Sydney, and broadened the range of skills required of builders' labourers. The major NSW building tradesmen's union, the Building Workers' Industrial Union (NSW/BWIU), had a communist leadership. The national body of that union lost its federal industrial registration in 1948, and the NSW/BWIU moderated its behaviour after it nearly lost its own, NSW state, registration in 1957. The Australian Building Construction Employees and Builders' Labourers Federation (ABLF) had a federal award under which most of the members of its NSW branch (NSW/BLF) were employed. The leadership of both the ABLF and of the NSW/BLF were communist. The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) suffered a defection by the ABLF leadership in the early 1960s to a communist party which endorsed Marxist- Leninist policies. The BWIU leadership also left the CPA (and formed the Socialist Party of Australia) following an announced shift in policy direction by the CPA in 1969. That shift in policy abandoned the `united front' concept and adopted ultra-left policies which advocated vanguard action by small groups. The announcement by the CPA of its new policies occurred after the gaoling of a Victorian union leader which signalled the virtual collapse of the previously authoritative, and punitive, role of the federal commission. The structure and politics of society underwent enormous change during the 1960s and early 1970s which was an era of protest during which various social movements were formed. The NSW/BLF became a major participant in those protests and movements, and conducted various industrial and social campaigns during the first half of the 1970s. Those campaigns were conducted in line with the ultra-left policies of the CPA, and this isolated the NSW/BLF from its federal body and from the trade union movement generally. This thesis analyses some of the campaigns conducted by the NSW/BLF during the period 1970-1974 and the various responses by the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA/NSW) to those campaigns. The MBA/NSW broadened its membership base during the 1950s, and the effect that its new membership structure had on its decision-making processes is also considered.

Master of Industrial Relations
Australia, during the twenty five years that followed the end of the Second World War, experienced increased prosperity and a stable industrial relations system in which the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (the federal commission) played a dominant and authoritative role. The NSW building boom which began in the latter part of the 1950s introduced new technology, concentrated building workers in the central business district of Sydney, and broadened the range of skills required of builders' labourers. The major NSW building tradesmen's union, the Building Workers' Industrial Union (NSW/BWIU), had a communist leadership. The national body of that union lost its federal industrial registration in 1948, and the NSW/BWIU moderated its behaviour after it nearly lost its own, NSW state, registration in 1957. The Australian Building Construction Employees and Builders' Labourers Federation (ABLF) had a federal award under which most of the members of its NSW branch (NSW/BLF) were employed. The leadership of both the ABLF and of the NSW/BLF were communist. The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) suffered a defection by the ABLF leadership in the early 1960s to a communist party which endorsed Marxist- Leninist policies. The BWIU leadership also left the CPA (and formed the Socialist Party of Australia) following an announced shift in policy direction by the CPA in 1969. That shift in policy abandoned the `united front' concept and adopted ultra-left policies which advocated vanguard action by small groups. The announcement by the CPA of its new policies occurred after the gaoling of a Victorian union leader which signalled the virtual collapse of the previously authoritative, and punitive, role of the federal commission. The structure and politics of society underwent enormous change during the 1960s and early 1970s which was an era of protest during which various social movements were formed. The NSW/BLF became a major participant in those protests and movements, and conducted various industrial and social campaigns during the first half of the 1970s. Those campaigns were conducted in line with the ultra-left policies of the CPA, and this isolated the NSW/BLF from its federal body and from the trade union movement generally. This thesis analyses some of the campaigns conducted by the NSW/BLF during the period 1970-1974 and the various responses by the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA/NSW) to those campaigns. The MBA/NSW broadened its membership base during the 1950s, and the effect that its new membership structure had on its decision-making processes is also considered.

The deregistration and dismemberment of the Builders Labourers’ Federation (BLF), which was executed by Federal and State Labor Governments, was one of the most significant events in Australian industrial relations history. The union and its general secretary, Norm Gallagher, continue to excite passionate debate whenever their names are invoked. Portrayed as the ugly face of trade unionism, Gallagher and the BLF provided national and state Labor Party reformers with a timely mechanism through which they could both assert their dominance over the Party and broaden its electoral appeal. This thesis incorporates BLF activities into the larger story of Labor Party transmutation that occurred between the 1960s and 1980s. By examining these shifts in the Labor Party through the prisms of Gallagher and the BLF, we can better understand Labor’s decision to deregister and ultimately destroy the union. The thesis argues that the trajectories taken by the BLF and the ALP were sufficiently divergent that conflict was inevitable. Drawing on a range of key sources, this thesis provides a new assessment of BLF deregistration, the schisms it opened up within both the Labor Party and Conservative interests, and the way in which destruction of a union represented a critical moment in Australian political and industrial history.