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Not OP but SDA union is - by numbers - one of the largest unions in Australia but is not well known for protecting its members (mostly retail workers).

I'm hopeful that the RAFFWU (https://raffwu.org.au/) can supplant the SDA in the future.

They haven't been so successful with nurses. 12% effective pay cut over a decade.

For sure. I can only think the situation would be so much worse without them.

Possibly. Either way they dont seem very effective compared to the previous decade, or, say, Unite.

Supporting Owen Smith (an anodyne career politician who is now a PR flack) in the Labour leadership election in what looks like a rigged vote isn't indicative of a pro worker outlook, either:

https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/10/17/who-do-you-trust-w...

Unfortunately over a decade of government run by a party that are pretty hostile towards trade unions will have that effect.

I wasn't familiar with them, I just looked them up, thanks for letting me know. That has made me a bit more optimistic about the path forward there!