The Tasmanian Trades & Labor Council, also known as Unions Tasmania, is a representative body of trade union organisations in the State of Tasmania, Australia. It is the peak union body in Tasmania, made up of affiliated unions who represent some 50,000 workers. It is the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).
Secretaries
Jessica Munday has been the secretary of Unions Tasmania since 2017. Notable past Trades Hall secretaries include:
- Lynne Fitzgerald was elected as secretary in 1995, the first woman to be elected as a secretary of an Australian state trades and labor council.
- Jim Bacon was secretary from 1989, before entering the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1996 and serving as Premier of Tasmania between 1998 and 2004.
- Paul Lennon was secretary from 1984, before being elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1990 and becoming Premier in 2004.
- Robert Watling (aged 29) was secretary from 1976 to 1980. He subsequently served as a Tasmanian Wages Boards Commissioner from 1980 to 2003, and as a Tasmanian Public Service Commissioner from 2004 to 2016.
- Brian Harradine was secretary from 1964 to 1976, and entered the Federal Parliament where he became Australia's longest-serving independent senator (1975–2005).
- John Henry O'Neil was secretary from 1927 to 1958, then 1962 to 1967, and also secretary of the Eight Hours Day Committee from 1921 to 1967.
History
The earliest trade unions in Tasmania were established during the first half of the 19th century, although most of them dissolved within five years. The first evidence of organised union activity dates to a printers’ association formed in 1829. In the 1830s, unions emerged for specific artisan trades, including bootmaking, tailoring, baking and carpentry. Most unions did not attempt to organise workers across multiple trades until the 1880s. Notable early exceptions included the short-lived Hobart Trades Union (1844–1853) and the Hobart Mercantile Assistants' Association (1847–1855).