BY SUE BOLTON
"We're not going to have a situation where someone can be attacked because of internal [union] political differences. The printing division [of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's Victorian branch] will not stand for it", Victorian printing division secretary Jim Reid told Green Left Weekly. Reid was referring to the August 12 decision by AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron and printing division federal secretary Steve Walsh to sack national industrial officer for the printing division Denis Matson.
Matson was conducting some major national industrial campaigns when he was sacked. The printing division regional councils in South Australia, Western Australia, NSW and Victoria have sent letters to Walsh directing him to call an emergency meeting of the federal executive of the printing division and calling for Matson's reinstatement.
However, Walsh has refused to call a meeting of the printing division federal executive, at which he would not have the numbers to defeat any motion calling for Matson's reinstatement.
When Matson was called to a meeting with Walsh in the Melbourne AMWU office on August 12, he was unaware that he was about to be sacked. Cameron participated in the meeting via telephone from Sydney. Matson was told he was being sacked for "factionalising" and was not allowed to defend himself against the charges. He was given one hour to pack his things and leave the building.
'Evidence'
The "evidence" presented by Walsh and Cameron was his involvement in negotiations over significant rule changes and budget policy changes which were to be discussed at the AMWU national conference. The AMWU printing division national conference had voted that Matson be involved in the negotiations.
When it was pointed out that Matson had participated in the negotiations at the direction of the division's federal conference, Cameron stated that Matson is "not employed by the federal conference, he's employed by me" and that by participating in debates on these issues "he was undermining the national council and the national office position". Matson's "crime" was that he gave a different interpretation of the impact of the proposed rule changes on the printing division than that offered by Cameron.
The elected officials of the Victorian printing division reacted to Matson's sacking by organising a picket of the AMWU office in Melbourne. As of August 24, the picket was continuing.
"The picket line will continue until Denis is reinstated", said Reid. "The Victorian printing division sees this as a 'do or die' effort. We're not going to bend the knee to bully boy intimidatory tactics which are trying to belt the printing division into subservience and political compliance with Doug Cameron's, or anyone else's, wishes... Members are saying that the sacking is an absolute disgrace."
Matson told GLW said that he had been exchanging letters with Cameron and Walsh since early June. "[In these letters, I was instructed that] I had to work at [Cameron's] direction, but on a daily basis for Steve Walsh. They directed me not to attend meetings of organisers, not to take any directions from any state official."
Matson privately protested against these restrictions but complied with them, so his sacking was a complete surprise.
Other officials' jobs have been threatened. "I know that Cameron spoke to the assistant secretary of the printing division in Victoria [Bob Yette] and issued a threat to him that if he didn't comply with all of the national council resolutions, then his services would no longer be required. He also declared war on Jim Reid", Matson said.
Matson has also heard that Queensland secretary of the AMWU Dave Harrison has notified organisers that if they express views that are not in accord with those of the national council, they will be sacked.
Interstate cooperation
When Matson became national industrial officer for the printing division a few years ago, he said that NSW and Victorian officials did not speak to each other. There was no interstate cooperation whatsoever. However, today "we can call a 24-hour stoppage at Visy all around the country. Last year, we had a five-week stoppage at Amcor in Victoria and NSW. We were out for five weeks and all plants in all states went on strike at the one time to win a national agreement", Matson told GLW.
The development of this level of national cooperation is unprecedented in the 100-year history of the Printing and Kindred Industries Union, which is now the printing division of the AMWU.
Cameron threatened
Matson said that the old PKIU state branches were little fiefdoms fighting amongst themselves. "I think Cameron sees [state branch cooperation] as a growing threat. Instead of being able to divide and rule, at least one part of the union is working as a national operation, and he feels threatened by that", he said.
"Cameron is saying that [the printing division] is playing a factional game. Yet, the politics [of the division's state secretaries] are everything from moderate ALP to as far left as you can possibly go, but there is a tremendous level of cooperation on matters of common interest to our members", Matson said.
Matson believes that one reason for Cameron's attack on the printing division in Victoria and other states is that they have taken positions on some issues that are at odds with the Cameron leadership.
The Victorian printing division this year has condemned the AMWU national council's internal inquiry on Craig Johnston as "inappropriate and unnecessary". It has supported the right of the AMWU officials and members charged over an industrial dispute at Johnson Tiles and a protest at Skilled Engineering to have their legal expenses paid by the union. And it opposed the AMWU national office's imposition of its own AMWU delegation to the Victorian ALP conference, when the Victorian AMWU conference had voted to suspend its ALP affiliation fees for six months, a decision which implied that it would not participate in the ALP during that period.
In response to these independent decisions, "Cameron has said that if you're not with us, you're against us, therefore you must be an offshoot of Workers First [the elected leadership of the Victorian branch of the AMWU]", Matson told GLW.
Reid has a similar interpretation of events. The printing divisions have "taken an independent, commonsense approach to industrial and political issues, and we've been able to work collectively. Perhaps that is seen by the national office as being a threat. We've never had an anti-National Left [Doug Cameron's faction] perspective. By the same token, we've never had an anti-Workers First perspective. We have been inclined to support the National Left on a few decisions, and there have been some issues recently which have come from the National Left that we couldn't support as a matter of principle.
"We believe that, as a result of that, the National Left has taken a position that if you're not completely with them, then you must be against them and you become an enemy. What we've been told by Doug Cameron is that we're just 'flunkies' for Workers First.
"But, we haven't had an ongoing relationship with Workers First. In fact, until recently, we had a closer relationship with Doug Cameron's National Left faction. We treat the positions put up for consideration by Workers First and the National Left on their merits. We make our decisions based on what we think is a fair and reasonable thing.
"It seems to us that the National Left view is that they want total subservience, and if you don't have that compliance and subservience then you've got to be dealt into submission."
Reid told GLW: "We want to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. It's not in anyone's interests for the dispute to continue. We believe that Doug Cameron should reinstate Denis Matson so we can get on with the job of looking after our members."
From Green Left Weekly, August 28, 2002.
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