NEO-LIBERALISM AND THE WORKING GIRL - THE DILEMMAS OF WOMEN AND THE AUSTRALIAN UNION MOVEMENT

In 1987, amid the worst drop in trade union membership since the Great Depression. the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) committed i tself to a massive reorganization of the labour movement designed to i ncrease union membership and modernize union structures and practices. This process of renewal hinged, at least in part. on the labour movem ent's commitment to organize and better represent women workers. This article argues that when focusing on women's policy issues and concern s about leadership and representation, the ACTU with the support of th e federal Labor government (1983-96) has made enormous strides to resp ond to the concerns and needs of women workers. Yet. this progress on the inclusion of women in the labour movement has been eroded by the A CTU's simultaneous support for a neo-liberal economic restructuring ag enda that encourages the market to allocate resources and pushes the s tate to the sideline. The ACTU has failed to come to grips with the un equal gendered effects of neo-liberal economic change. Consequently th e Australian labour movement has pursued a number of strategies from e nterprise bargaining to union amalgamations that promise to erode the position of women as workers and caregivers. In so doing. Australian u nions are likely to undercut their own initiatives to build greater su pport from women for unions.