'Take some responsibility': Unions call for change after Labor falls short

The party is on track to win between 10 and 12 seats, and won about 29 per cent of the primary vote after polls closed on Saturday, March 23.

Party leader Rebecca White conceded the election Sunday afternoon, however she said it was "premature" to speculate on her future as Labor leader.

Acting state secretary for the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union Jacob Batt said after a decade of government by a "dysfunctional" Liberal Party the result was "simply not good enough".

"The Labor Party, after 10 years of a Liberal Government letting down the Tasmanian people, should have been in a position to form majority government," Mr Batt said.

"The decision makers and those in charge have to finally take some responsibility and accountability for an election result that should have had Labor in striking distance of majority government."

Mr Batt said Tasmanians "deserved a majority Labor government" that would fix health, housing, education and public transport, and the party needed to rebuild its standing in the community.

"Those in charge have to stop trying to scapegoat their own failures," he said.

"Rebecca White's speech on Saturday night effectively said Labor in the future will likely only form minority governments.

"This is simply not true and is a desperate attempt to create a narrative to shift blame and present that an awful primary vote is somehow a positive."

Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) secretary Robbie Moore said an intervention by the party's national executive had clearly not worked, as the Labor vote failed to crack 30 per cent.

"We've got to rebuild and get the right people in the right positions," Mr Moore said.

"The intervention has been a total failure, the vote should have risen at this election. What we need to do is re-engage with the membership of the Labor Party and get back to basics.

"We need to see leadership that will unite the party and the membership together, including the union movement and the rank-and-file members."

The HACSU secretary said unions had been left in the cold during the election campaign, which led to the party becoming out of touch with ordinary voters.

"Unions are usually the ones that are in touch with the electorate because we're talking to our members every day," Mr Moore said.

Secretary for the United Firefighters Union of Australia Tasmania branch Leigh Hills said Labor failed to present itself as a viable alternative government, and was at risk of alienating its core voters.

"Labor has traditionally been the party of working people, but Rosalie Woodruff was the one thanking unions for standing up for the community," Mr Hills said.

Mr Hills was optimistic the fractures within Labor could be mended further and said a change at the top, although ultimately a matter for the party to resolve, might be for the better.

"I would have thought after three election losses it would be time for a renewal in leadership," he said.

"The national executive needs to have a look at their actions and take some responsibility as well."