Interview questions

  1. Can you outline your employment history within the trade union movement?
  2. What positions did you hold in the union prior to becoming a full-time official, what was your involvement with the rank/file?
  3. As a full-time official, what role and responsibilities did you have in determining union policy and practice?
  4. 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?
  5. What do you believe was the role and result of the ACTU involvement in determining trade union policy and practice?
  6. 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?
  7. 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?
  8. 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?
  9. Equally, was management skilled enough to bargain effectively at the site level?
  10. “Decentralised Bargaining reduced the relevance of the award system”. What is your view on this statement?
  11. 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?
  12. 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?
  13. If you had the choice, what bargaining system would you prefer to work in and why?