What is The Union Show?

The Union Show broadcast on community TV C31 in Melbourne Australia from 2005 to 2009 and is a rich source of information on unions and issues affecting unions in this country. Whilst the program is no longer produced for television, the producers, United Productions maintain both a Union Show blog and the UnitedPro2010 YouTube channel as a means of disseminating union information that would otherwise be lost in time and in the morass of anti-union misinformation that is distributed by mainstream media.

An extensive archive of Union Show episodes is available for viewing at http://theunionshow.blip.tv. Current union information can be sourced at www.theunionshow.com.au and at the UnitedPro2010 YouTube channel. There are many other web sources for union information that deal mainly in the written word. One of those sites and perhaps the venerable example is www.labourstart.org.au where you will find links to many other like-minded information outlets.

ACTU Climate Change

This is our much requested last Union Show episode for 2009.

We hear from the CFMEU President, Tony Maher, as well as Giulia Baggio (ACTU) and Dean Mighell (ETU) about the challenge of climate change and the unions.

The Episode has been nominated for the 2010 Antenna Community Television Award in the category of Information, Current Affairs or Interview Program. The Award will be announced on June 27 at the Antenna Awards presentation night, at the BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne.

The Union Show @ C31

Next week’s show is a Producer’s choice. We revisit Episode 6 that first aired August 8, 2006.  In the studio with Dave Oliver and Kevin Bracken, we talk about international trade agreements and their economic consequences and the vision of Australia’s future espoused by the Federal government. We also interview Sharan Burrow and visit the poor strikers at Mills Elastomer.

I chose this show to replay in light of the fact that we are still suffering the effects of Liberal economic decisions that linked Australia closely to the protectionist US trade environment. The so called US Free Trade Agreement controversially came into effect from January 2005. Entering into bilateral trade agreements without the basis of a strong manufacturing industry policy or plan and with no protection in sight is a dangerous game to play with the lives of industry workers.