Anthony Benbow: a trade unionist candidate

By Jorge Jorquera The Democratic Socialist candidate for the seat of Perth, Anthony Benbow, is a union militant with the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union. He is currently on the executive of the CEPU Electrical Division WA. Benbow was involved last year with the campaign against the Liberal state government's "second wave" of anti-union industrial legislation. As an electronics technician for eight years, he has also experienced Labor's attacks on wages and conditions and the gradual erosion of training standards. In Benbow's opinion, "Liberal and Labor share a common objective — to 'restructure' the Australian economy to make Australian-based corporations more competitive. Both now even share similar rhetoric, claiming that boosting company profits will provide the community with more jobs and better services." Benbow believes the opposite is true. "Corporate competitiveness comes at the cost of our living standards and jobs. Australia's most competitive industries — like forestry and mining — are those increasingly replacing workers with new technology. Likewise, making the telecommunications industry more 'competitive' will provide various corporate giants with massive profits paid for by slashing the industry work force and eroding the quality of services." According to Benbow, the effects of Labor enterprise bargaining and Liberal labour market deregulation varies only in degree. "Both are aimed at eroding working conditions to improve company profits. Labor's enterprise bargaining maintains the privilege of union membership, but only if the union keeps to Labor's tune." Benbow maintains that the great advantage that has kept Labor in government for 13 years has been its ability to convince big business that it can tame and control the union movement. "Keating hasn't needed to destroy unionism to implement the policies which Howard was still dreaming up. "The Labor government has managed to incorporate much of the union movement into its structures of government. Top union bureaucrats often defend the policies of Labor even at the expense of ongoing union membership decline", said Benbow. "A union movement that only 'growls' at Labor eventually loses its bite altogether. Even if the Liberals get government — as in Victoria — many trade unions can no longer find the ability to put up a decent struggle, to organise their membership and take serious industrial action." According to the Democratic Socialists, the union movement has to force its leadership to abandon the close collaboration with government and big business that Labor has imposed on it. "Working people want unions that organise struggle against the government and corporate attacks, not unions that 'sell' these attacks to their members. This means a new militant unionism based on the organised solidarity of working people fighting to defend their living standards", said Benbow. "But it will take more than militant unionism to pose an alternative to Liberal and Labor. It means we have to build a new workers' party that defends our interests — that puts people before profits."