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<jats:p> When the Australian and Chinese governments announced their intention to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement this news generated apprehension among employee bodies. This was because many workers believe China's competitiveness is underpinned by its government's refusal to allow China's workers to realize basic labour rights and because Australian labour and the wider community has been unable to participate in the debate surrounding the proposed agreement. The latter concern is the focus of this article. We accept organized labour has a right to `sit at the table' when trade policy is being determined and that the union movement needs to forge effective alliances if it is to achieve this goal. To assist this process we draw on submissions generated by the United States—Australia (AUSFTA) and Australia—China (ACFTA) trade agreements to argue that Australian unions and civil society groupings can influence the outcome of bilateral trade negotiations and in so doing offer suggestions regarding the issues likely to be most conducive to alliance building. </jats:p>