- Can you outline your employment history within the trade union movement?
- What positions did you hold in the union prior to becoming a full-time official, what was your involvement with the rank/file?
- As a full-time official, what role and responsibilities did you have in determining union policy and practice?
- Do you believe that the 13 years of a Labor government was a help or a hindrance to the trade union movement and in what way was it?
- What do you believe was the role and result of the ACTU involvement in determining trade union policy and practice?
- What effect did the push for enterprise bargaining have on your union, both for the union officers and the rank/file? What was its impact on your membership numbers and method of organising?
- Were union officials suitably skilled and resourced to handle decentralised bargaining? What (if any) specific training was given to unable officials to cope with this change?
- Do you think that decentralised bargaining either enhanced the relationship between the union and its members, or did it result in distancing the two? If so, why and how?
- Equally, was management skilled enough to bargain effectively at the site level?
- “Decentralised Bargaining reduced the relevance of the award system”. What is your view on this statement?
- What do you believe are the reasons behind the declining rates of union membership, what in your view needs to be done to rectify this decline?
- The ACTU plan for the creation of 20 super unions is now complete. What is your view on this change? Has it fulfilled expectations of applying greater resources /efficiencies into the trade union movement? What effect did it have on you as an official and how do you think it was received by and affected your membership?
- If you had the choice, what bargaining system would you prefer to work in and why?