1.

Area, the trade union dying-

Within their beloved Labor party, the unions have laboured over their "Buy
Australian" campaign to no avail. Their ambition to repeal all of WorkChoices has
also failed, since our clever Deputy Prime Minister has valued the value of
flexible work practices during the downturn. And their attempt to take an axe to
the Australian Building and Construction Commission was similarly knocked
down by common sense.

So in terms of policy, it appears the union movement is less say-so and more
stay-slow. But that's just policy. Let's look at the numbers. According to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 1.8 million trade union members in
August 2008 - a 3 percent increase on the 1.7 million members in August 2007.
Yes, it's slightly higher, but in both years this represents only 19 percent of
employees, so it's relatively unchanged.

Regardless, there are glimmers of hope on the horizon for the union movement.
One of these is mounting unemployment. After a decade of skills shortages, the
power pendulum has swung back to the employer. Desperate employees,
seeking protection from towering tyrants, will run into the warm and welcoming
embrace of the unions who'll remove the noose from their members' necks,
placing it instead around their hip pockets as they recoup the $46 million they
spent defeating the Howard government.

Of course, there's also the new Fair Work Act, which provides union delegates
with more rights, such as right-of-way in the workplace, especially with enterprise
agreements. Prior to this legislation, unions had to muscle in past the
metaphorical bouncer on their way to the negotiating dance-floor. But now, so
long as they know just one person on the guest list, they can go straight to the
VIP bargaining table.

This week I sought the opinion of Joe Catanzariti, the Head of Workplace
Relations at Clayton Utz and a recognised authority on industrial relations. His
view was that "Fair Work provides trade unions an opportunity to re-engage, and
become relevant to more of the workforce. The demise of AWAs and the
emphasis on collective agreements provides a unique opportunity for committed
unions to regain support."

But even with a tolerant federal government, the union movement will struggle to
sign up sceptical Australians unless they carefully manage their public relations.
They need to move from being an obstructionist force to a more collaborative
one. Perhaps instead of strikes they should have dance-offs. The side that's able
to shimmy, shake, and cha-cha-cha the best, wins the deal. I don't know.
Anything is better than their usual tactics.

I also spoke with federal Coalition MP Michael Keenan, the Shadow Minister for
Employment & Workplace Relations. His thoughts were that "unions operate on
the notion that the collective is better than the individual. But the truth is that
individuals are increasingly being held back by the collective, restricted by the
'one size fits all' approach that unions hold so dear. The new system gives
unions over 60 new rights and increased powers, but virtually ignores employee
rights."

What do you think? Are trade unions experiencing a genuine resurgence - or is

this just a small and temporary lift as they plummet towards nothingness? Do you
care?

2. In what way the trade unions can make itself relevant under
conditions-

I. Cross culture economics

II. Increase in women employees in number

3. Is it possible to manage without trade unions?