ETU secretary Dean Mighell opened a newspaper article this year with the words 'In 1972 Gough Whitlam changed Australian politics forever with the manta "It's time". Today the same slogan should apply to Australia's unions because it is time for them to break away from the Australian Labor Party and stand independently for what they believe is right. There's a great unspoken truth in Australia's labor movement at the moment and if it is not addressed soon the future of this country's unions as the  effective political voice of the workers is in serious jeopardy.'

ETU members will soon receive ballot papers - to be mailed on 28 June -  in relation to a non-binding plebiscite regarding affiliation to the ALP.  The mail-out is being run by the Australian Electoral Commission, which will also count the votes.   

The union's decision to engage in such a plebiscite has drawn the attention of the media and is a watershed in the relationship between unions and the ALP, a relationship formed after the Great Strikes of the early 1890s.