The union was formed by a progressive amalgamation of unions from 1989 onwards in a time when all Australian unions were merging, with varying degrees of success. These unions merged into the one larger union in order to pool together their expertise and resources, so they could provide members with a larger range of quality services.
The six unions which form the NUW were established in the early part of last century and have been at the forefront of workers' achievements for nearly 100 years:
Federated Storemen and Packers Union (Est. 1912)
Federated Rubber and Allied Workers Union (Est. 1908)
Federated Cold Storage and Meat Preserving Employees' Union (Est. 1908)
Federated Millers and Manufacturing Grocers Union (Est. 1909)
Commonwealth Foremen's Association (Est. 1912)
United Sales Representatives and Commercial Travellers Guild (Est. 1888)