ive perception is especially evident from the activities of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). Their strikes, stormy picket lines, and wild demonstrations, coupled with their corruption, have antagonised many people who see this as thuggery (Short, 1992). As well, the frequent strikes which hit essential services such as transport, electricity, petrol and food supplies angered most people, including unionists and potential unionists.The declining memberships in unions are ofcourse not going unnoticed by the ACTU. They have been, for a number of years now, trying to combat the rapid decline. They have committed themselves to increasing member numbers and to making the unions themselves more responsive to what people actually want.The trade union movement has put into place many strategies designed to assist its survival. One important strategy was to amalgamate to create more effective and powerful unions (Healey, 1995). This leads to the perception that fewer and bigger unions would arrest the decline in union membership. The proposal was to try and reduce Australias 330 unions to a possible 20 in the near future (Short, 1992). Arguments suggest that big or small unions with bad policies have no future. Evidence in overseas countries such as Japan, with thousands of unions have an effective union movement. And, in Germany where there are only 19 unions, also has an effective union movement (Short, 1992). This proves that policies have to be looked at more carefully than just the size of unions.Unions have also realised the importance of recruiting young members. The ACTU has actively tried to promote themselves through education programs within schools. These programs not only urge the recruitment of young workers but provide information about work and the role of unions in todays community (Healey, 1995). The beauty of this program is that it is sponsored by organisations such as Australia Post, Cadbury Schweppes, Open Learning A...
