New and improved?

Alliance Queensland President Carol Burns writes:

I was part of the last amalgamation that Equity went through when we combined with the AJA. We members of Equity were all very nervous about the possible loss of identity. We thought the increased resources promised by sharing day-to-day running costs might not be channelled to “our” needs.
Would those pesky journalists get all the service because they were a bigger and stronger section?
Would amalgamation give us more personnel in the office to assist our enquiries about industrial or professional problems?
Our new union then is now our old union, the MEAA, that has served us well. And I still feel like a member of Equity.
I won’t list how many agreements our industrial officers have negotiated and how many battles have been fought but the membership has been guided through the vicissitudes of life by a great team of paid staff. I know we would be in a sorry state without the union and that the office could always do with more staff.
Now we are talking about another amalgamation with another bigger union to form a new entity. I’m sure you’ve seen the information that’s come out through e-bulletins and from Terry O’Connor, our Branch Secretary.
We need to consider all those questions from 1991 again and bring all our worries, founded or unfounded, to the surface so we can make this next amalgamation successfully. If it goes ahead, the aim is to survive with strength into a demanding future with resources to support the needs of the membership.
Presently the strongest contender to join with to form the new union is the CPSU but there are others that could have been, should have been and have been talked with.
Head office have had a team of four talking with prospective partners and Terry and I are part of a Future Strategies committee they report to and discuss with. We need to understand from you whether discussions are going in the correct way.
Read the previous entry in this blog, and the responses to it. Post your responses here or give your questions or opinions to the Alliance Queensland office for Branch Council to talk about on 2nd December and then to take to Federal Council on the 8th and 9th December.
Then talk about it some more when you’re out and about into the New Year.
Get involved.
We’ll make our best decision as a union if we know what we want. Of course you can leave it up to someone else - but how lame is that!
- Carol Burns Equity membership number 4027106.
- Currently serving as Queensland Branch Council President

Your place to show your feelings

Greetings.
The reaction to my email message last night was such that I have decided to start this blog, to let people have their say, either anonymously or publicly - their choice.
Several comments suggested that the decision about merging with the CPSU (Who's that? See below.) is a done deal and that the Alliance simply wants members to rubber-stamp it. Not a chance. For a start there are many views about this possible merger among Alliance officials, both honorary and full-time. Then there are possible road-blocks such as both unions not being able to agree on a suitable partnership arrangement.
However it is certainly true that members have not been kept informed as fully as they should, and for that I apologise: I should have informed Queensland members much sooner about the tentative steps that Federal Council has taken.
Below you will find some comments from members, sent to me and then posted here with their permission. If you would like to lodge a comment, please either use the Comment box at the bottom of this page, or email me at Alliance.Qld@gmail.com and - as long as the comment meets normal publication criteria regarding defamation, contempt and so on - it will be published. Censorship is not an option here.
One more thing: the CPSU. You will find the website of the Community and Public Sector Union at http://www.cpsu.org.au/. Have a browse. If you then have specific questions, send 'em in and I will attempt to get them answered for you.

Cheers, Terry O'Connor, Alliance Queensland Secretary

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I've been a member of the CPSU in the past and they were useless - only interested in members in the likes of CentreLink/Social Security and the Tax Office where they had big membership numbers and could use that "muscle" and the fact that one of those departments was/is a big revenue raiser, to get a result.
You are not going to save anything. You'll be a part of another organisation, so arguably the savings won't be yours anyway!
And
You'd probably best amalgamate before a rampaging Packer or a crabby Murdoch buy you out and sack those of us who remain. I know we journos love our "independence", but to survive we just might have to amalgamate
I guess so many of us have seen the Packers and Murdochs and their ilk gobble up everything in front of them
at a price that is often argued as being to the detriment of journalistic independence and our right to speak openly and freely (and we are a "developed" country!?)
So I reckon there perhaps will be a feeling abroad of going through all of that again ... again
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
All the best with your discussions, hopefully wise heads will prevail.
Cheers, Bob Riley

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My concern with a merger with Community and Public Sector Union is that it puts journalists in the same union as all the bureaucrats and spin doctors who obfuscate and try to manipulate us.
Regards, Amelia

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I was on the AJA Executive when we became MEAA. I do a lot of work for trade unions and I'm a strong believer that size matters when it comes to industrial strength. It's up to members to be active and ensure their voice is heard within the bigger Union. You've got my support for the merger.
Cheers, Anne Jones
ToadShow Pty Ltd

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I don’t wish to merge with the CPSU. I will look for another union if we do.
Cheers, Bernie Dowling

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There were a few more comments lodged, but not every respondent wanted their comment made public, let alone have their name used. But don't hold back. The Alliance NEEDS a vigorous debate and this is a chance to start. – Terry