Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Capital and Class
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
71209
Funders
Curtin University of Technology / Australian Government
Abstract
The trade union bureaucracy debate has significant implications for both analysis and union strategy. Recently receiving renewed academic attention, this debate centres around whether there is a dichotomy between rank-and-file workers and full-time union officials, and whether these officials – the trade union bureaucracy – tend towards industrial conservatism. The case study of labour relations in the Pilbara iron ore industry in the north of Western Australia 1965–1986 enriches our analysis of the trade union bureaucracy by viewing its role in the class struggle over a number of decades, in varying contexts of union development, union power and union decline. Throughout this entire period, there was significant conflict between the bureaucracy and rank and file. The remoteness of the Pilbara region, and workers’ industrial militancy makes it an extreme case suited to unveiling insights on the nature of the trade union bureaucracy. The Australian focus broadens a largely British debate. This article also offers a greater consideration of the role of full-time shop stewards’ convenors than has occurred previously. Finally, the trade union bureaucracy theory illuminates our understanding of this period in Pilbara labour history.
DOI
10.1177/03098168241240462
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Vassiley, A. (2024). Once more on the rank and file–union bureaucracy interplay: Mining unionism in Australia’s Pilbara region. Capital & Class, 03098168241240462. https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168241240462