BY SUE BULL
MELBOURNE — "The workers united will never be defeated", 300 unionists chanted, led by Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary John Maitland, on May 22. The event was a public meeting, titled "They built this city. They saved this city", held to condemn the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry.
The public meeting was held at the Regent Theatre Ballroom, a magnificent old building saved from demolition by construction-union green bans. The ornate golden painted room fitted with chandeliers seemed oddly out of kilter with the blue collar unionists sauntering in. Chairperson, local comedian Rod Quantock quipped, "You know this is a replica of the [local capitalist Bruno] Grollo's bathroom — to scale of course."
Although the quips kept coming, those present understood the union's battle is serious.
"It's a political fight that we're engaged in", ALP deputy leader Jenny Macklin explained. "Whether it's through the vilification of asylum seekers or trade unions<192> The Howard government is spending $60 million to harass a union". These sentiments were also expressed by former Victorian premier Joan Kirner and Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow.
Macklin also said: "We're all about protecting peoples' rights. It's our job to bring the community together". Many unionists are interpreting this as an ALP commitment to stand by the CFMEU or any other union threatened with deregistration.
"We're proud that we've recovered millions of dollars worth of entitlements for our members", CFMEU state secretary Martin Kingham told the meeting, referring to more than $10 million in unpaid wages, superannuation and leave benefits recouped by the CFMEU during the past year.
The unity of the union movement in supporting the CFMEU was underscored by the appearance, and support, of two union leaders previously in conflict with the CFMEU: Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and Jack Mundey, former NSW Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) leader.
"The royal commission is an event [which should cause us to] to put aside all the other bullshit", Shorten explained, referring to the frequent coverage disputes between the CFMEU and the AWU. "This royal commission is a threat to all unions. It is targeted to attack the ability of unions to organise<192> The rest of the union movement needs to understand that this royal commission is one of the most significant attacks on our rights since the attempt to ban the Communist Party in the 1950s."
Mundey gave a moving account of building unions' campaigns since the 1950s, illustrating that, among other things, 1960s tours of Aboriginal unionists from the Gurindji tribe and 1970s and 1980s green bans politicised the BLF and made it stronger. He argued that the construction unions could win by bringing in allies from across the political spectrum.
John Maitland ended the night with an impassioned plea to support construction unionists: "We don't deserve this<192> Building workers have been generous to a fault in the past. They need your support today."
In the same week, Commissioner Terence Cole said that he didn't think unions should have the right to inspect the books of companies believed to be underpaying their employees.
From Green Left Weekly, May 29, 2002.
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