WA unions take strong anti-war stand

BY NIKKI ULASOWSKI

PERTH — Unions WA affiliates met on February 4 to discuss the Western Australian union movement’s reaction to the looming war on Iraq. The meeting unanimously adopted a strong anti-war position and decided to encourage unions to organise anti-war actions.

Those attending the meeting represented construction, manufacturing, schools, finance and hospital workers — 75,000 workers across Western Australia in total. Its recommendations are to be put to the Unions WA executive meeting on February 11.

According to Unions WA acting secretary Dave Robinson, “If war against Iraq commences, with or without United Nations support, affiliates are recommending that we should work together with other community groups to organise mass protest action against the war”.

He clarified that this would mean that “each affiliate will discuss and debate with their members the issues of war on Iraq, and take a position on what form of protest to take at that time. A range of actions are available, from stopping work, through to local workplace protest and attendance at marches and rallies.”

The meeting recommended to the Unions WA executive that a planning group be formed around the resolutions. The meeting also gave support to the NOWAR Alliance-organised rally on February 15 and is encouraging union members to attend.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is planning to stop work on the day war is declared. CFMEU state secretary Kevin Reynolds explained, “Our union is one of the unions that is opposed to war, whether UN-sanctioned or not. There’s got to be a better way of sorting out the problems that society and the world face, than just going and bombing the shit out of one another.”

This issue, he explained, has been “hotly debated around a number of building sites and there are various points of view. But overwhelmingly, people are prepared to stop work on the day that war is declared to try and show to the government, to the employers and to society in general, that trade unionists aren’t going to just sit back and watch [the war] happen without at least making their views known.”

Robinson explained that, “The union movement has always advocated peace because working women and men and families suffer the consequences of war. The overriding view is about support for working people.”

Since the meeting occurred, there has been criticism from the corporate media and the state ALP premier over the unions’ position. Robinson explained that “75% of the calls [to the union office] have been supportive and positive. I think civil protest does bring about change. We could lie down, but affiliates have remained strong and have taken a principled stance.”

Reynolds said: “It is very clear to me and to a lot of people that I’ve spoken to, that there’s a lot more to this than the supposed disarming of Iraq. It is very much tied up with Bush and Britain trying to get hold of the oil. One of the possible achievements of people protesting [is] a change of government, and with a change of government, we hope we can bring the troops home.”

From Green Left Weekly, February 12, 2003.
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