Since the 1980s, the UnionsWA International Committee has acted as the ACTU's representative to the Southern Initiative for Global Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR).

ALP State Secretary Joe Chamberlain played a key role in this decision, opposing the creation of an independent Trade and Labour Council.

The ACTU Federal Executive hinted that it might withhold re-affiliation unless an independent Trades and Labor Council (TLC) was established as the state’s affiliated body.

The decision was influenced by a letter signed by officials from 12 WA trade unions, expressing support for establishing an independent TLC.

However, some critics argued that the officials representing the 27,000 members were “a small group of people who never consulted their membership.”[4] In February 1960, the TLC Campaign Committee, comprising 16 unions with a combined membership of over 32,000 workers, was formed to implement the decision made by the ACTU Congress.

The goal was to structure this organisation to meet the ACTU’s requirements, ensuring that each affiliated union could be represented on the Industrial Council without any political restrictions, as decided in accordance with its rules.

[8] In 1997, the Court Liberal Government's introduced a series of reforms aimed at reshaping Western Australia’s industrial relations landscape, including a shift towards individual workplace agreements and a reduction in union influence.

On 29 April 1997, the Trades & Labor Council under the leadership of Tony Cooke, organised an estimated 30,000 people to march through the city to the State Parliament House in protest.

In April 2000, the Trades & Labor Council of Western Australia was renamed UnionsWA to more adequately encompass both white and blue collar unions.

[1] The present office holders are: UnionsWA is responsible for the use, upkeep, and maintenance of Solidarity Park, opposite Parliament House in Perth, Western Australia.

The Mark Allen Memorial, named in honour of a young CFMEU organiser who was killed on a building site while attempting to get workers down from an unsafe roof, features a triple 8 to symbolise the labour movement's historic struggle for the 8-hour day.