From down under

Workers On-line Interview with Michael Crosby, who used to be the organising director at the ACTU before moving on to a new post funded by the SEIU. Among other things the interview gives Michael's take on the recent split in the US trade union movement - and what more unions need to do to rebuild their membership and influence.

Michael has just had his book 'Power at Work' published, which sets out some ideas on how to rebuild the union movement in Australia (and beyond). Haven't read it yet (spoke to him on the phone the other day and a copy is on it's way), but I've seen one or two chapters in advance and I'm sure there'll be plenty in there to think about.


One point Michael makes very well is that unions in Australia (and I would argue in the UK as well) are under-resourced and have a subscription and resource base which doesn't reflect the realities of trying to organise effectively in a modern economy. How we increase that resource base (either through rises in subscriptions or through other means such as driving up reps and stewards facility time) is a key question for unions in both the UK and Australia.