Why more young workers are joining unions

After decades of decline, trade union membership has risen for the first time in a generation over the past couple of years.

It's a trend the union is hoping will continue.

"What's really encouraging is the many young people who are joining," says Joseph Mitchell, the assistant secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

"There is a clear attitudinal difference now, where young people are optimistic. They understand the power of the collective and they know that they can take direct action to make change."

Young workers are fuelling the union comeback

Mitchell points to research by the ACTU that draws on ABS data to find that union members earn $251 per week more than non-union members.

He puts the difference down to collective bargaining, where unions negotiate on behalf of their members.

The union movement argues this helps address the power imbalance between an individual worker and their employer, which might be a billion-dollar corporation or a large government agency.

This comes into play when negotiating a pay agreement with the employer, known as an enterprise agreement.

Why unions say they do more than just lift pay

While unions are best known for working to secure better pay and conditions for their members, Australian Services Union National Secretary Emeline Gaske says they look after workers in several other ways as well.

Members who run into difficulty at work, whether from bullying, sexual harassment, performance management or disciplinary issues, can call the union for support.

"They are your advocate and are experts in how to navigate these procedures and support you as you go through that," says Gaske.

What unions actually do when things go wrong at work

They can attend meetings between the union member and the employer or help them write a response or complaint about a workplace issue.

Unions can also examine members' payslips to ensure they are being paid the correct amount for the shifts they're doing.

Awards and enterprise agreements can be hugely complex and difficult to interpret.

It is not unusual for employers to accidentally underpay workers.

The Australian Services Union has 135,000 members across sectors including local government, community support, clerical roles and customer service in airlines.

Gaske says the union has recovered thousands of dollars for members who were systematically underpaid in community support roles.

"While they're doing really important work, that should not be at the expense of the right minimum wage being applied to them," she says.

Gaske grew up in a household where joining a union was the norm.

At age 14, when she got her first job at Hungry Jack's, she signed up to the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association.

Full-time workers pay union fees of $13.50 a week.

How unions are tackling AI, gig work and job security

Unions can also help members obtain qualifications or training.

This often happens through bargaining with employers to invest in development and allow time off to attend training.

Some union-affiliated organisations also provide training. The union movement is currently focused on job disruption linked to AI adoption by employers.

The ACTU wrote to employer peak bodies in February stating they are legally obliged to consult workers when AI is introduced in ways that may change jobs.

It is also working to protect gig economy workers, who are harder to organise due to casual and solo work arrangements.

Last year, the Transport Workers Union reached agreements with Uber Eats and DoorDash for a minimum rate of $31.30 an hour and accident insurance.

Why union membership collapsed for 30 years

Trade union membership has declined steadily since 1992, when 40% of employees were union members, according to the ABS.

By mid-2022, that had fallen to 12.5%.

There are several reasons for the fall, including fewer workers in highly unionised manufacturing roles. The end of the 'closed shop' system in the 1990s also played a role, where union membership had been required in many workplaces.

Isabella Dabaja, a lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School, says the decline accelerated after the election of John Howard in 1996.

The Workplace Relations Act shifted wage setting away from unions and placed limits on union workplace access.

"Union membership started to decline in the '90s because we saw a really targeted, structural assault on what unions could do," says Dabaja.

"And the thing with the union is that the fewer resources it has, the harder it is for it to promote itself. The less visible it is, the harder it is to reach out and explain why people should join."

There is also the 'free rider problem', where union-negotiated pay and conditions apply to all workers, regardless of membership.

This can discourage workers from joining while still benefiting.

Union membership is rising again, but only just

Dabaja says this is particularly evident in government sectors like teaching, nursing and the public service. These sectors still also have relatively high union membership rates.

Membership has grown since 2022. By mid-2024, 13.1% of workers, about 1.6 million people, were union members.

Many of the additional 200,000 members were aged 15 to 34. The union movement hopes this signals a longer-term recovery.

Growth has also been driven by increases in jobs in teaching, nursing, aged care, childcare and disability support. These are all strongly unionised industries.

The changing workforce has also shifted gender patterns. Women are now more likely than men to be union members.

Mitchell says getting the message out remains a challenge.

"It's not that there are a lot of people unwilling to join a union, but many haven't been asked," he says.

"Our goal is to make sure people know the pathways to joining and the benefits of collectivising."

The new laws strengthening unions' power

The union movement secured major wins through the Albanese government's Closing Loopholes laws in 2023 and 2024.

These included criminalising wage theft, setting minimum standards for gig workers and introducing the right to disconnect.

The laws also introduced Same Job, Same Pay provisions.

These prevent labour hire workers from being paid less than direct employees in sectors like mining and aviation.

The movement has also faced controversy, including corruption and intimidation allegations within the CFMEU.

Business groups also raise concerns about union behaviour.

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says unions remain embedded in Australia's workplace relations system.

Business groups push back on union power

However, he argues they often prioritise a larger share of profits rather than productivity gains.

"It is frustrating to watch unions behave in a way that is wilfully blind to the pressures faced by business," he says.

Willox also questions whether recent membership growth marks a long-term shift.

He says private sector union membership has remained in single digits.

"Overall, only a very small proportion of Australian workers elect to join a union," he says.

How unions step in when work turns risky

Queensland teacher's aide Jake Beeton joined the United Workers Union three years ago, following a visit by the union to the inner-Brisbane school where he works.

"It was essentially me wanting to make sure that I had protections at work, but then also the empowerment of being able to be looked after by the collective if needed," says the 21-year-old, who is now the school's union delegate.

Many of the children Beeton works with have some form of disability and teacher's aides can sometimes be hit or spat on by their charges.

"Our union helps every day with occupational violence. It's one of the main issues that's happening with teacher's aides now," says Beeton.

He describes his union fees as: "Twenty-five dollars a week to protect yourself."

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