Association of Draughting, Supervisory and Technical Employees
 | |
| Full name | Association of Draughting, Technical and Supervisory Employees |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 1915 |
| Date dissolved | 1991 |
| merged into | AMWU |
| Members | 21,800 (1987)[1] |
| Affiliation | ACTU, Metal Trades Federation, CAGEO, ACSPA[2] |
| Country | Australia |
The Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees (ADSTE), originally known as the Association of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia (AAESDA), was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1991. It represented white collar and technical-grade employees in manufacturing, construction and the public service.
The AAESDA played a key role in the 1956 establishment of the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations (ACSPA), the peak body for unions and professional associations representing salaried employees. Unlike many other white collar unions in Australia the ADSTE did not include managerial-level employees and many of its members were tradespeople (60% in 1991) who had been promoted to more highly skilled positions.[3] The union published a monthly journal known as the AAESDA Bulletin and later simply as Blueprint.[4]
History
The union was founded in Brisbane in August 1915 as the Association of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia with a membership of 108. The union initially represented white collar employees in the Queensland Railways workshops, but soon expanded to cover engineers employed in the Queensland Public Service and local government engineering offices, as well as architects in the Public Works Department and Department of Public Lands. The union was registered with the Industrial Court of Queensland on 11 April 1917 as the Australian Union of Architects, Engineers and Surveyors, Union of Employees, Queensland.[5] The union grew slowly over the following decades, reaching 243 members by 1933 and 528 by 1939.[3]
In 1944, with branches in Victoria and New South Wales, the AAESDA achieved federal registration.[2] In 1948 it took over members from the deregistered Australian Association of Draughtsmen, and in 1971 took over members from the deregistered Federation of Scientific and Technical Workers.[5] By 1965 the AAESDA had 12,738 members, of which 7322 were employed in the private sector.[3] In the 1970s the AAESDA, like many other Australian unions, became more industrially militant, including being more prepared to undertake strikes and other industrial action.[3] The union's membership was also undergoing a change as fields such as architecture and engineering became increasingly professionalised, requiring university-level qualifications, and many members in these occupations chose to be represented by occupation-specific professional associations such as the newly formed Australian Professional Engineers Association (APEA).[3] To better reflect this new membership profile the union changed its name in 1981 to the Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees (ADSTE). In 1986 it amalgamated with the Australian Public Service Artisans' Association, which represented permanent trades employees of the Federal Government.[5]
In 1991 the ADSTE merged with the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union to form the Metals and Engineering Workers' Union.[5]
References
- ↑ Bolton, Brian (1993). Telecommunications Services: Negotiating Structural and Technological Change. International Labour Organisation. p. 36. ISBN 92-2-108263-6. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- 1 2 Huntley, Pat (1980). Inside Australia's Top 100 Unions. Middle Cove, NSW: Ian Huntley (Aust.). p. 23-26. ISBN 0-9598507-4-0.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dettmer, Andrew (2013). "The Hope of the World: The Amalgamation of ADSTE and the AMWU". In Andrew, Reeves; Andrew, Dettmer. Organise, educate, control: the AMWU in Australia, 1852-2012. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing. pp. 34–58. ISBN 9781922235008.
- ↑ Edgar, Patricia (2013). In Praise of Aging. Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company. p. 126. ISBN 9781922147554. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 Smith, Bruce A. (2010). "Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees (i) (1981-1986)". Australian Trade Union Archives. Australian Trade Union Archives. Retrieved 5 June 2014.