The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union has learned several important lessons from its extended battle with Rio Tinto.

CFMEU national secretary John Maitland spoke to internet publication Workers Online about the pioneering of “global campaigning” in the battle with Rio.

Maitland said the battle with Rio Tinto in Australia began around the issues of freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain. The campaign won the support of unionists in all countries where Rio operates, Maitland said.

Apart from being able to mobilise international support, where the CFMEU claims a major victory is in taking the battle to the board room, as Maitland describes it. This has involved a strategy of corporate campaigning - proxy battles, shareholder battles as new weapons in the union's arsenal.

Maitland said in the past the union movement had lacked market support to pressure listed companies such as Rio but that this was changing: "Often it is the market that determines how the company reacts to various financial and economic pressures. So if the market sees a company that is very ruthless and is cost cutting, performing well, then they will reward them and the share price goes up.

“But if the market sees that community reaction to ruthless cost cutting, job-shedding, no social conscience, disregard for the community, is not received very well, then they will punish the companies."

Maitland added that workers were exerting more control through huge superannuation and pension funds, which were looking for investments, and where workers have some control over them.

"You are seeing workers using their own capital to get a more friendly - a more responsible - a more ethical approach," Maitland said.

According to Maitland, the major victory for the CFMEU was to get resolutions on corporate governance onto a Rio Tinto board agenda, and secondly to achieve 20% shareholder support.

"The fact that the directors voted unanimously, or recommended a unanimous rejection of the resolutions, was not surprising... I don't know how to judge this because we have never been involved in it before, but others who have been involved in these sorts of campaigns - particularly the Americans - were astounded that we were able to get 17.5% in support of better labour rights. They were absolutely astounded by that."

Maitland added that the union movement has very much benefited from globalisation of the media, telecommunications and information technology, which allowed unionists to communicate readily across international borders and time zones. Another significant feature is the combination of international union bodies with national federations.

"Sure, the international trade union secretariats can organise within their sectorial coverage, but if you really want to have the sort of punch there - the power - the oomph - you have to involve the national federations."

As Maitland points out, the CFMEU remains a powerful threat to companies: "Even though they say the trade union movement continues to decline in numbers we still have more than 2 million members and there is no other organisation in Australia - political or religious - that has 2 million dues paying members."