Previous ABS findings show that these recent figures are part of a general trend, with no slight recovery recorded in the past six years.

Whilst it is evident that there is a decline in union membership, it is important to analyse why this is so and what the unions are doing to combat the downward trend. In attempting to tackle this issue, it is important to state the main objectives of a union that attract employees to join a membership and why the memberships are declining.

Australian unions were established in the first half of the nineteenth century, with growth beginning in the post gold-rush era. It is from then that the fastest growth of the era seems to have been in the decade of the 1880's, where prosperous economic conditions and a tight labour market were forces making for union development (Dabscheck, Griffen, an

Most current of the 'recruitment campaigns' is the ACTU's 'Unions at Work'. Launched February 2000, it differs little from past campaigns in that millions of dollars have been spent on high profile advertising and to put up a squad of young 'go-getters' into the field to drum up business. Workers were offered all kinds of incentives and gimmicks, including access to a range of discounted retail goods and cheap holidays (Cook, 2000).

All these incentives are a clear indication that the union movement is heeding the message of its leaders that it must become less inward looking and more community focused if the decline in membership is to be turned around. But the question remains, especially with the release of current ABS membership figures, whether or not the employees of today's workforce see the need for them.

The trade union movement has put into place many strategies designed to assist its survival. One important strategy was to amalgamate to create more effective and powerful unions (Healey, 1995). This leads to the perception that fewer and bigger unions would arrest the decline in union membership. The proposal was to try and reduce Australia's 330 unions to a possible 20 in the near future (Short, 1992). Arguments suggest that big or small unions with bad policies have no future. Evidence in overseas countries such as Japan, with thousands of unions have an effective union movement. And, in Germany where there are only 19 unions, also has an effective union movement (Short, 1992). This proves that policies have to be looked at more carefully than just the size of unions.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Federation BLF, Accord Deery, Launched February, Hawke Labour, Plowman Walsh, Previous ABS, Sentry Holdings, Griffen Teicher, Employment Service, Unions ACTU, union membership, et al, short 1992, deery et, union movement, al 2000, deery et al, et al 2000, trade union, healey 1995, australian bureau statistics, changing composition, composition employment, changing composition employment, segments labour force,
Approximate Word count = 1667
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)