Maybe it is easier for those on the outside of an industry to see. There is a possibility of naivety about unions in the industry in which you work Head. Were you out of the loop for those 30yrs?
"For the uninitiated, the easiest way to tell if a union is at risk of corruption is to assess two factors: supply and demand.
First, is the union affiliated to the Labor Party? If so, then the demand factor is present. The people running the union need lots of money to buy votes within the ALP, support takeovers of other unions so their ALP votes can be controlled, play factional power games and fund a political career.
Second, consider the characteristics of the industry with which the union deals.
Do the employers have the ability to hand out money? If so, then the supply factor is present. For example, a union servicing the public sector is unlikely to be riddled with corruption simply because managers in the public sector just don’t have the latitude to give money to union officials, whereas managers in, say, a construction company do.
So, if a union is ALP-affiliated and operates in a sector in which employers have the means to hand out money, then the union will be almost certainly engaging in corrupt activity". …/ whole article The Australian ]
