BY TOM FLANAGAN
"Whilst we might be the first trade union to walk away from the ALP this week, we also hope for the sake of injured workers in this state that we won't be the last", said Chris Read, the secretary of the NSW Fire Brigade Employees' Union, explaining his union's disaffiliation from the NSW Labor party.
The FBEU, which represents 6000 professional firefighters, has been affiliated to the ALP since 1923, but, at a special general meeting on June 21, by 814 votes to four with no abstentions, it voted to disaffiliate.
The FBEU has been locked in dispute with Bob Carr's state Labor government for two years over the level of benefits paid for firefighters who are killed or injured on the job.
After two months of protest action, NSW Labor even moved to penalise the union financially by trying to stop payroll deduction of union dues. It has now withdrawn its application to do so from the Industrial Relations Commission, after mass meetings of members resolved to commence an immediate 24-hour strike if the government proceeded to cut automatic deductions.
But according to Read, the "final straw", which prompted disaffiliation, was the government's performance on workers' compensation.
"Bob Carr's arrogance knows no bounds. A Labor government doesn't cut workers' comp, a Labor government doesn't break picket lines, a Labor government doesn't cut union dues and a Labor premier certainly doesn't shove his fingers in the face of workers like Carr did on the steps of parliament [on June 19]. His obvious preference for the big end of town over the welfare of injured workers, union members or not, means that this so-called Labor premier now has to go," explained Read.
The disaffiliation motion specifies that disaffiliation and withholding of funds applies until such time as Bob Carr is no longer parliamentary leader of the ALP — leading some to question whether the FBEU will immediately re-affiliate if Bob Carr is replaced.
"Our decision to disaffiliate after 80 years was aimed directly at Bob Carr, and we make no apologies for that", Read told Green Left Weekly.
"This probably more than any other Labor government is the premier's government, cabinet and caucus being little more than rubber stamps for Bob Carr. So the buck stops with him, and yes, we definitely want him to stop.
"Our disaffiliation motion is unambiguous in that we definitely won't be returning whilst ever Carr remains the party's leader. However, it doesn't necessarily follow that the FBEU will automatically re-affiliate if and when he does go, either.
"The workers' comp outrage was merely the final straw rather than a cause in itself for our disaffiliation. The truth is that it's been on the cards for quite a while."
"The FBEU's stance on re-affiliation will obviously not be mine alone to determine," Read added, "but I'd suggest that it won't happen without the ALP making a huge shift to the left. And that, of course, means that it probably won't ever happen."
Read believes the argument put by Labor's backers that disaffiliation will only reduce unions' influence on the party is "nonsense".
"In 1950 more than 50% of Labor's federal MPs were blue collar workers and/or union officials (including [Ben] Chifley as PM and leader). I'd be surprised if that figure reached even 10% today, the workers having long since been elbowed by lawyers and middle-class spivs.
"The ALP has been doing its best to distance itself from the trade union movement for a decade or more now, and I believe the trade union movement should be doing likewise", he said.
"The bulk of the ALP's funding has long since shifted from union affiliation fees to corporate donations, and the party's policy direction has shifted accordingly. Perhaps the party's last saving grace is that it continues to [allot] 60% of its conference delegates to the affiliate unions — which would be great if the MPs ever adhered to party policy — but this too is now being challenged."
A widespread belief in the union movement holds that the election of a Labor government is the best outcome for the unions. Asked if he thinks this belief tends to tie the hands of unions in taking action against Labor governments when needed, Read answered "In short, no. Or at least it shouldn't. It certainly hasn't tied the hands of firefighters."
Read said, however, that "it would be silly to suggest" that some union officials' ALP membership "couldn't or wouldn't" influence their willingness to fight anti-worker policies of the ALP in government.
"I'd also be lying if I said that I thought there weren't any trade union officials out there who treated their position as little more than a ticket into parliament, and who therefore didn't rock the boat too hard", he added. "Happily, however, their type is increasingly becoming the exception rather than the rule these days."
"Despite our union's long-standing affiliation to the ALP," Read continued, "very few of the FBEU's officials have ever actually been ALP members (there's currently only three out of 14).
"It follows that the FBEU's officials have never tried to hold our members back if we've identified a situation which warranted a fight with government, Labor or otherwise. Indeed, history indicates that firefighters have probably reserved their most militant actions for Labor governments."
Asked what he thought of the current direction of the NSW Labor Council's campaign to defend workers' compensation, Read replied "An effective industrial campaign requires discipline and unity. As a Labor Council affiliate we've continued to put our views about the direction and conduct of the campaign. We haven't necessarily carried the vote on every occasion, but we've abided by majority council decisions.
"Given the history and make-up of the NSW Labor Council", he added, "I think that the council has actually done a pretty good job in the workers' comp campaign. To put it in perspective the NSW Labor Council of 15 (or even five) years ago would never have even contemplated picketing ALP politicians, let alone proceeded to actually do it.
"It's ironic that it took an ALP government to unite the left-and right-wing unions so effectively on one issue, and the independence — militancy even — exhibited by the Labor Council in this campaign is something that I believe we should all be looking to build upon."