Sue Bolton, Melbourne
On March 23, a mass delegates' meeting called by the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) voted for a work stoppage and mass protest on June 30, the day before the federal Coalition government takes full control of the Senate. The meeting also called on unions in other states to join them with similar action on June 30.
VTHC secretary-elect Brian Boyd argued to a meeting of the ACTU and labour council secretaries from around Australia on March 31 that a stop-work and rally on June 30 was necessary to send a strong signal that unions would not tolerate the loss of conditions and rights entailed in the Howard government's planned industrial relations "reform" legislation. But most labour council secretaries from other states poured cold water on the idea of stop-works and protest rallies on June 30.
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson refused to back the action, implying that rallies and stop-works are likely to cost unions public support. He told the April 1 Melbourne Herald Sun: "The campaign needs to break away from the stereotypical view that a lot of the public have and that John Howard would like to portray of the union movement."
Unions NSW is more focussed on working with the NSW Labor government to save NSW workers from the federal government's plans to strip the rights of workers to organise, than it is on a national campaign to stop the implementation of the planned anti-union legislation.
South Australian United Trades and Labor Council secretary Janet Giles argued that Victorian unions wouldn't be determining South Australian union strategy.
Unions WA secretary Dave Robinson indicated to the meeting that a community protest on June 30 was possible in Western Australia. The Queensland Council of Unions said that it would only participate in national action.
However, an ACTU campaign meeting on April 6 called a national week of action from June 27 to July 3. ACTU assistant secretary Chris Walton told a Young Unionist Network public meeting on April 1 that the sorts of action that might be undertaken may be lobby days, picnics or workers donating a days wage to the ACTU's media campaign.
At the Young Unionist Network public meeting, Walton was asked if the ACTU would encourage unions in other states to join with the Victorian unions on June 30. He avoided answering the question directly and replied that "there is a debate about what's the best action to do in the ACTU's planned week of protest. The thing there's no debate about is if a rally is just going to be men in hard hats and trolleys going through the doors of parliament."
It's not surprising that state labour council secretaries outside Victoria are not keen on stop-works and rallies when the ACTU leadership is actively dampening down enthusiasm for protest action. Walton's comments are in line with comments by ACTU secretary Greg Combet at a VTHC delegates' briefing in March. Combet and Walton don't argue directly that unions shouldn't engage in protest action but they imply that "the community" doesn't support mass protests and that such protests end up in violence. By the reference to "men in hard hats", they imply that white-collar workers and female workers don't support mass union protests.
The mass protests in 1992 and 1993 against Victorian Coalition Premier Jeff Kennett's IR "reforms" and the mass protests in 1997 against the WA Coalition government's introduction of anti-union laws directly contradict the arguments made by Walton and Combet.
Despite the lack of interstate solidarity, the Victorian unions are beginning to mobilise for June 30. The VTHC executive voted on April 7 to approach community groups and churches to support the June 30 action. The VTHC will raise money for a broad advertising campaign to build support for the protest.
Two unions outside Victoria have begun campaigning for other unions in their states to join Victorian union action on June 30.
The WA branch of the Maritime Union of Australia took a decision on April 6 to support the stand of the unions in Victoria and is encouraging other unions in WA to join Victorian unions by taking action on June 30. The MUA is also calling on Unions WA to convene a mass delegates' meeting of all unions to discuss the campaign.
In NSW, the National Tertiary Education Union voted on April 8 to call for unions to take action in NSW on June 30, and to call on Unions NSW to convene a mass delegates' meeting. The NTEU plans to approach other unions to support these proposals.
The NSW Teachers Federation voted on March 12 to call on Unions NSW to organise a mass delegates/representatives and to organise a mass protest against the Howard government's IR "reforms". The union is also calling on all of its local associations and branches to maximise attendance at this year's May Day march as the first indication of union strength and solidarity.
The unions that recognise the need for united mobilisations of the whole movement in order to either defeat the anti-union laws or render them unimplementable are having to confront a head-in-the-sand approach from most other unions.
This head-in-the-sand approach is typified the comments made by Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Mary Bluett in the AEU's March journal. Bluett declared that the immediate "impact [of Howard's anti-union laws] will not be significant for AEU members in the short term" because the AEU has certified agreements that are not up for renewal for a number of years. She added that "if left unchallenged the longer term erosion of pay and conditions is inevitable" but the damage is done. The impression left is that teachers don't have much to worry about, so there's no urgency to campaign against the laws.
The results of research carried out by Unions NSW indicates that unions shouldn't be so timid about organising against the anti-union attacks. Unions NSW started doing surveys in 1996 after Howard first won government. The polls are of 1000 workers who earn less than $60,000 per annum. Both union members and non-members were polled.
The most recent poll was carried out by Auspoll and published in the April 1 edition of Unions NSW's website Workers Online. Some of the results are:
- 54% think that management has more power than unions.
- 25% are dissatisfied with the performance of their unions, down from 43% in 1996.
- 90% disagreed with the statement that Australia would be better off without unions. The lowest this figure has ever gone in previous polls was 78%.
- 50% say they would like to be members of a union. This figure has never fallen below 44% in previous polls, however, 25% thought that some industries are not relevant to unions. Forty-four per cent of those who are non-members say they would like to be in a union but say they have never been asked to join one.
- 71% think that both the Liberal and Labor parties are too close to big business.
- 72% (including 65% of non-members) agree that "if the role of unions are weakened in Australia, we will end up with even more work-related pressure on families".
From Green Left Weekly, April 13, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.