The Australian Nursing Federation revealed that its membership had jumped 13 per cent to 192,000 and was likely to reach 200,000 members by Christmas.
It is believed the ANF is now the second-largest union in the country, with the shop assistants union believed to have the biggest membership.
The ANF's federal secretary, Lee Thomas, attributed the rise to the union's focus on campaigns that were relevant to workers in the health and aged-care sectors.
"We would put it down to being very credible and visible and running good, solid campaigns relevant to members and non-union members," she said.
Ms Thomas recently succeeded Ged Kearney, who left to assume the ACTU presidency.
Ms Kearney highlighted the ANF's membership surge when reiterating the need for unions to campaign on social issues.
"You know it's the question of getting young people to join the movement too," Ms Kearney said in an interview on ABC radio's Sunday Profile. "How can you be relevant to those people? What can we campaign around?
"If you campaign around social issues, the community gets behind you. You appeal to that broader sector and you ultimately get better industrial outcomes and better services.
"So I think we can pick some social agenda. It might be affordable housing. It might be, you know, something that's as important to workers as their wage."
|
|
|---|
