Queensland Council of Unions
| Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) |
|
|---|---|
| purpose | Union (umbrella organization) |
| Chair: | Ron Monaghan |
| Establishment date: | 1885 |
| Number of members: | 350,000 |
| Seat : | Brisbane |
| Website: | www.qcu.asn.au |
The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) is the umbrella organization of the union in Queensland , Australia , also known as the Labor Council . In 2005, the QCU comprised 40 individual trade unions and 10 local Trades & Labor Councils , representing 350,000 trade unionists.
Jurisdiction
The Queensland Council of Unions is responsible for the policy of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in Queensland, represents the trade unions across the country, nationally and internationally, it supports and coordinates the relations of the unions and members among themselves, speaks for the trade union movement in Queensland, takes influence the government and public opinion on political, industrial and social issues and offers its union members education, training and campaigning.
The Queensland Council of Unions has an executive made up of elected representatives from their united unions who meet every month.
history
The roots of this organization go back to a meeting of union secretaries on August 18, 1885, when they agreed a Trades and Labor Council that they would set up this organization on September 1, 1885. It did so at a time of rapid growth in the union movement and when several unions were being formed, including the Queensland Laborers Union (1889) and the Queensland Teachers Union (1889), and membership of the existing unions was growing too. The 5th Intercolonial Trade Union Congress in Brisbane in 1889 decided to found the Australian Labor Federation (ALF) on June 11, 1889 and to dissolve the Labor Council . The Brisbane newspaper Worker was founded in 1890 by the ALF under the leadership of William Lane . It was the year of the great Australian strikes, such as the maritime strike , followed by the 1891 sheep shearers strike in 1891 and the 1894 sheep shearers strike .
The Queensland Labor Council was formed again in 1903, but in 1911 all unions were transferred to the Australian Labor Federation . The ALF was finally dissolved in January 1914 when numerous unions switched to the Australian Workers' Union and a new organization, the Brisbane Industrial Council , was formed. Other intra-union organizations such as the Eight Hours Union and the Brisbane Trades Hall Board ran the Brisbane Trades Hall in charge. During the First World War , the labor and trade union movements drew closer together, which was manifested in a conference in September 1918 when 42 trade unions decided on a plan for unification. After lengthy negotiations, the Queensland Trades and Labor Council was founded on April 12, 1922 by a total of 46 unions.
In 1993 the organization called itself again the Australian Council of Trade Unions Queensland Branch to document its essential task and role. This name changed in 1999 to the Queensland Council of Unions and thus formed the identity of the umbrella organizations of the Queensland trade unions.
Significant strike movements in Queensland were the 1912 General Strike in Brisbane , Queensland Railroaders Steik in 1948 , SEQEB dispute and Australian Waterfront Dispute in 1998.
Today, two major Queensland unions are outside the QCU: the Australian Workers 'Union and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association .
Labor Day
On March 1, 1858, stonemasons working for entrepreneur John Petrie enforced the eight-hour day, which was first celebrated on March 1, 1865. Initially, only these workers were allowed to mark the day with an eight-hour march. By 1890, when 11 unions had achieved significant reductions in daily working hours and improvements in their terms and conditions, all workers were allowed to take part in this march, which commemorates 1890.
During the sheep-shearers' strike of 1891, striking sheep-shearers held a demonstration in Barcaldine on Labor Day , May 1st. The first May March took place in Brisbane in 1893. The eight-hour day was declared a public holiday by the Queensland government on the first day in May 1901, and in 1912 it was renamed Labor Day .
The Labor Day march in Brisbane took the form of an Australian labor movement parade through the streets of Brisbane, ending in a city park where a festival was held to entertain participants and families. This continues to this day.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ gcu.asn.au : Roles and Functions, accessed on April 5, 2011
- ↑ qcu.asn.au : QcU Executive (English), accessed on April 5, 2011
- ↑ qcu.asn.au : History (English), accessed 5 April 2011