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About: A Proud History

Historical photograph used with the permission of the State Library of Queensland (image no: 123456)

The QPSU and its predecessor organisations have been fighting to improve the working conditions of Queensland's public service for as long as that body has been in existence.

Information on QPSU is provided by Tony Gough, QPSU life member, long-standing activist, and passionate amateur historian.

Colonial origins

Our union's earliest beginnings are in the collective struggle of colonial government workers in the 1860's to win an adequate superannuation scheme.

The Civil Service Association of Queensland (CSAQ) was formed in February 1890, fighting for an end to government patronage (through competitive entry exams), better job classifications, and new arrangements for government superannuation.

The Association was successful in its major goal, the repeal of compulsory superannuation contributions. These were opposed because they were compulsory on top of employees' pre-existing paid insurance schemes. The relevant provisions of the Civil Service Act were repealed in 1894, and the compulsory deductions were refunded. This success, however, saw the Association largely fall into abeyance in the late 1890's. The last meeting of the CSAQ was held in May 1895.

Our modern union is born

The modern QPSU was founded on 17 September 1902 as the Public Service Association of Queensland, a successful revival of the earlier organisation. A notable founding member was Supreme Court registrar Arthur Hoey Davis, better known by his pen-name of Steele Rudd.

One of the new association's main focuses, as with the old, was an adequate government superannuation scheme, a campaign which the PSAQ prosecuted alongside other unions for some years.

In 1912, the government finally came close to agreeing to a scheme that met the requirements of the potential contributors. A government Superannuation Board was created, with union representatives.

On 29 August the same year, professional officers, in order to have their own appointees on the Superannuation Board, formed the separate Queensland Professional Officers Association (QPOA). The two public service unions would reunite some 80 years later.

First registered industrial agreement for Queensland government

1917 saw the passage of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the precursor of the current state Industrial Relations Act. The PSAQ, now renamed the Public Service General Officers' Association, was the first organisation registered before the new industrial tribunal, the forerunner of today's state Industrial Relations Commission.

That year also saw the first signed industrial agreement for the Queensland government, embracing conditions such as salary for classified and unclassified officers, probation, travelling allowances, remote area allowances, relieving, overtime, hours of work, sick leave, recreation leave and long service leave.

During the 1920's, the PSAQ again changed its name to the Queensland State Service Union (QSSU). It and the QPOA affiliated with the Australian Public Services Federation, the Trades and Labour Council, and the Labor Party in Queensland.

In 1929 there was a major industrial dispute with conservative Premier Arthur Edward Moore. As the Great Depression hit Queensland, he instituted salary cuts and severely restricted union membership arrangements, activities, and affiliations. His government subsequently lost office.

In 1932, with a new state government, public servants won the 44-hour week, fortnightly pay, and gradually restored salary levels.

Over the following decades, despite compulsory membership, the two public sector unions struggled to achieve industrial goals. They were hampered by the Depression and the Second World War, but also by political and sectarian infighting.

Challenges and renewal

During the 1950's, the labour movement in Queensland was frequently at loggerheads with ALP Premier Vince Gair over his failure to legislate for paid leave arrangements. Growing unionist dissatisfaction with Gair caused a rift both within the labour movement and the Queensland ALP.

Matters came to a head in 1957. The QSSU, and many other Queensland unions, disaffiliated both from the Trades and Labour Council and the Labor Party. This rupture threw Gair from government, sparking decades of conservative government and difficult times for Queensland's labour movement.

For the QSSU, however, 1957 was also a time of renewal. New union office-bearers were elected, and subsequently the union was successful in attaining many industrial goals – such as the removal of the requirement that women must resign from the public service on marriage, four weeks' annual leave, and flexi-time.

The QSSU and QPOA also grew closer together during this time.

1983 was a year of political change for Queensland, with Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen abolishing compulsory union membership in the public service. The effect on membership levels was dramatic, and it impelled the two organisations to form closer ties in the pursuit of industrial goals. The split with the Trades and Labour Council was healed, but the unions remained unaffiliated to any political party.

Union re-united.

In 1989, QSSU and QPOA formed the Queensland Public Sector Alliance as a way of co-ordinating in support of mutual goals. This process continued until 1992, when after a vote of members, the two unions ended their 80-year separation and merged into the State Public Sector Federation of Queensland (SPSFQ).

The 1990's were a time of considerable activity, with the QPSU's first woman President (Pat Cousar), the shift in Queensland industrial relations from arbitration to enterprise bargaining, and the creation of new elected officer positions in place of paid staff. The SPSFQ was recognised as a major force in Queensland with a very strong campaign against the departmental cutbacks of the Goss Labor government. That government's subsequent loss of office was in no small part due to the anger of Queensland's public servants.

The present day.

The 1990's forced more readjustments to the environment of collective bargaining, and the union movement struggled to adopt. Membership numbers remained a significant problem in the late 90's. The union changed its name once more, to the Queensland Public Sector Union in 1999.

Members voted for a major change in direction in 2002, to focus on organising-model unionism and empowering workplace delegates. Since then, the decline in membership numbers has been reversed, with more workers than ever before actively participating in their union.

The achievements of QPSU members in a string of successful industrial and political campaigns have confirmed that a strong, active union is the best way for workers to improve their working lives.