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Abstract

The author was one of the counsel who assisted in achieving the amalgamation of the three industrial organisations of employees that formed the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union in 1972. In this article, based on an address to a dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of this event, he describes the hard-fought battles that preceded amalgamation, including contested proceedings before the High Court of Australia in ex parte Bevan (1972) 172 CLR 1, the Commonwealth Industrial Court in Drinkwater v Amos (1972) 20 FLR 359 and the Arbitration Commission. From these experiences, he derives lessons about the role of courts and tribunals in industrial relations, the role of well-targeted industrial advocacy, the advantages of the old system of conciliation and arbitration and the need to simplify the system of amalgamation. He also reflects on the idealistic quality of union leadership in 1972 and contrasts this with some cases today.

Keywords

Australian industrial relations conciliation and arbitration federal courts history of trade unions industrial relations practitioners tribunals union amalgamation

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Present at the creation: The strange eventful birth of the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union 1

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