The Community and Public Sector Union is a major Australian trade union with over 160,000 members in various occupations. It grew through mergers and campaigning, and offers benefits such as discounts and insurance programs. Membership is limited to those with collective bargaining agreements. The union includes some private sector employees due to logistical quirks and financial struggles.
The Community and Public Sector Union is an Australian trade union, the majority of whose members are employed by the federal government, one of the state or territory governments or one of their subsidiary organisations. The Community and Public Sector Union has grown through campaigning, expanding its jurisdiction, and merging or merging with other unions. Union membership is limited to those hired by an organization with which the union has a collective bargaining agreement, and only if the job they hold is covered by the agreement. One of Australia’s largest trade unions, it has claimed around 160,000 members in over 600 occupations nationwide.
The amalgamation process leading to the current Community and Public Sector Union began in 1989, with the union of three unions in the government and broadcasting fields to form the Australian Public Sector and Broadcasting Union, Employment of the Australian government. This initial merger was followed by a series of similar mergers over the next five years, culminating in 1994 with the merger of the public, professional, scientific research, technical, communications, aeronautics and broadcasting sectors with the Federation of State Public Services for form the CPSU, the Community and the Public Sector Union. This merger and consolidation process has merged virtually all public sector unions in Australia, reflecting a long history of labor representation. Some of the constituent organizations made up of statewide bodies date back to the late 19th century.
Community and Public Sector Union membership offers a wide range of benefits beyond the traditional array of services and resources included in the collective bargaining arena. For example, travel and shopping discounts are included with membership, as are a variety of insurance programs. Members can also access discounted financial and legal services. Such rebates are typically funded by the service providers in exchange for the Union’s referral of members and not subsidized by member dues. The existence of these programs is a relatively recent phenomenon in collective bargaining organizations and reflects the need to retain members with incentives beyond the traditional collective bargaining benefits, which many take for granted.
Member dues are based on their annual salaries, but must be paid directly; that is, automatic deduction of dues from members’ salaries is not permitted. While members can pay dues month-to-month, discounts of up to 10% are available for those who pay quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
The inclusion of bargaining units composed of some private sector employees in a national union composed largely of public sector employees is an interesting anomaly in organized labor. In some cases, those irregularities are the result of logistical quirks in past years, where some private sector employees wanted to form a union, but the only union in the area was the public sector union. These agreements sometimes date back decades. In other cases, a small private sector union may be struggling financially and need to merge to survive, and the public sector union agrees to provide a financial safe haven.
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