It seems that the success of the Your Rights at Work campaign wasn't limited to the outcome of the federal election.

AMWU Newcastle organiser, Daniel Wallace, says that there has been an 80% increase in the number of people applying to join the union in his area in the last three months and he attributes it in large part to the unions’ campaign against WorkChoices.

“The campaign was a real shot in the arm because we were very visible both in the media and in the local community.

“The people who are calling and wanting to sign up are joining as a group, not as individuals. Workers are having the debate in their workplace about whether they want to join the union and making the decision that they all join together.

Mr Wallace says that people are talking about their rights at work, questioning if they’re getting the best deal out of their employer and deciding that they want the union to help them.

“You often get calls from individuals in a place making inquiries about joining the union, but we’ve had three workshops wanting to join recently.

“All of them had already made the decision that it would be a collective effort and that there was no point in just a few or half of them signing up.”

“The campaign has created a new awareness about unions and it’s a good time to be out there talking to workers in places that are not organised.

Workers at Rigweld Fabrications in Singleton are a case in point. They all joined the union and elected three delegates.

“They were committed to doing it right, right from the beginning. It’s great.”