UnionsWA is the peak Trades and Labour Council in Western Australia. It represents over 30 affiliated unions, which have over 150,000 members in Western Australia. The organisation is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Since the 1980s, the UnionsWA International Committee has acted as the ACTU's representative to the Southern Initiative for Global Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR).
History
Early history
The Trades & Labor Council, Perth was formed in 1891 and operated as such until 1907 when it re-emerged as the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Labour Federation. Twenty years later, in 1927, it was operating as the Australian Labor Party (WA). It continued in this guise for another twenty years when, in 1947, the name was changed once more, this time to the Trade Unions Industrial Council (ALP, WA) to more accurately delineate its trade union role from the political motives of the labour movement.
Chamberlain’s objections were primarily political. He was concerned about the growing influence of non-ALP members, especially communists, within the labour movement. Additionally, he recognised that forming a separate industrial body could jeopardise the primary source of party funds, which at that time was the affiliation fees collected from affiliated unions. WATUIC membership was strictly limited to industrial unions affiliated with the ALP and delegates were required to sign the ALP pledge before participating in voting processes.
Non-affiliated unions and union representatives who were not ALP members, however, were excluded from a Special Congress of Unions convened in Perth on November 23, 1959. During this congress, a vote was held regarding any structural changes, resulting in 555 against and 206 in favor. However, some critics argued that the officials representing the 27,000 members were “a small group of people who never consulted their membership.” with the now more politically open Executive Committee including the prominent communist Paddy Troy as Trustee. The strike was called in response to industrial relations legislation being introduced by the WA Liberal Government of David Brand, which sought to restrict the power of trade unions, and replace the Court of Arbitration with the Western Australian Industrial Commission and the Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court. The strike was ultimately unable to prevent the passage of the legislation, though it cemented the leadership of the TLC within the union movement. Aboriginal workers and the community opposed the exploration, and in May 1979 Dicky Skinner, a representative of the Noonkanbah workers, spoke to one hundred delegates of the Trades & Labor Council who passed a solidarity motion for the traditional owners. On 25 March 1980, the Trades & Labor Council and the ACTU placed bans on the transport and operation of the drilling rig at Noonkanbah. By November 1980, Amax realised there was no oil on the site.
Third-wave dispute
thumb|The Commemorative Rock at [[Solidarity Park marking the spot where the Workers Embassy was established.]]
In 1997, the Court Liberal Government's introduced a series of reforms aimed at reshaping Western Australia’s industrial relations landscape, including a shift towards individual workplace agreements and a reduction in union influence. On 29 April 1997, the Trades & Labor Council under the leadership of Tony Cooke, organised an estimated 30,000 people to march through the city to the State Parliament House in protest.
The Workers Embassy, in the form of a caravan, was set up on the grounds of Parliament House during the protest. Following the arrest of four union officials for remaining on the premises, the Workers Embassy was relocated to a site across the street. Unions occupied the site for 24 hours a day over 6 months.
In a last-ditched attempt to stop the legislation passing, on 14 and 15 May 1997, union officials occupied the Legislative Council and set up a picket line. To escape this disruption, proceedings were removed to a committee room and the legislation was passed through both Houses of Parliament.
In July 1997, the Workers Embassy was renamed Solidarity Park.
Though unable to stop the reforms being passed, the third wave industrial relations legislation was subsequently overturned following the election of the Gallop Government in 2001. The Wall of Remembrance at the park commemorates all killed and injured workers. The Mark Allen Memorial, named in honour of a young CFMEU organiser who was killed on a building site while attempting to get workers down from an unsafe roof, features a triple 8 to symbolise the labour movement's historic struggle for the 8-hour day. The People’s Wall that surrounds the park replaced the original sandbag wall around the occupation site, along with other structures such as the Fountain for Youth and the Commemorative Rock.