Sue Bolton
After the tremendous success of the November 15 protests, the union movement is debating how to maintain the momentum against the federal government's Work Choices legislation.
A motion was unanimously passed by the November 15 Geelong rally calling on the ACTU and Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) to "organise a national stoppage and protests early in the new year". There were also calls at the Portland and Gympie demonstrations for a 24-hour national strike, although these were not moved as motions. Geelong Trades Hall Council secretary Tim Gooden told Green Left Weekly, "Rank-and-file union members across the board are telling me that we need to take action now, not wait".
On November 19, the NSW Teachers Federation state council passed a motion that: "Federation's senior officers are to call on the ACTU and Unions NSW to plan further industrial action in the first half of 2006". The motion added: "Federation claims will continue to include, where appropriate, job security issues, union involvement in dispute resolution clauses, unfair dismissal rights and paid trade union training leave", directly contradicting the Work Choices legislation. The last component of the motion declared, " ... if a federation officer is fined or imprisoned for demanding that a member be treated fairly, then an immediate stop-work of members be called as a show of solidarity and support to that officer".
At the November 23 ACTU executive meeting, however, there was a debate about organising further mass rallies, and whether Sky Channel broadcasts should be part of future rallies. A lot of unions in Victoria and Western Australia have criticised the Sky Channel format as too expensive and too passive.
In the end, the ACTU executive voted unanimously that the 2006 campaign activities would include:
* a paid advertising campaign;
* another national community day of activity in 2006, incorporating a Sky Channel broadcast;
* support for an inquiry, in consultation with state and territory governments, into the impact of the Work Choices legislation;
* an ACTU-coordinated approach to ensure fair treatment of workers despite the legislation;
* coordinated campaigning to target marginal seats;
* internet campaigning;
* industrial support for workers and unions in disputes, such as workers in the building and construction industry; and
* exposure of employers who utilise the Work Choices legislation to exploit their workers.
The timing of events in 2006 has been left in the hands of the ACTU officers and national campaign committee. Some reports of the executive meeting indicate that the next nationwide protest isn't likely to be until the middle of the year, but ACTU executive member and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary John Maitland told GLW that some people are talking about the first half of the year, from March onwards. "We needed a commitment from all of the unions for another mass protest ... Now we've got that commitment so we can work out a date. The Miners Federation has coughed up $250,000 and other unions have coughed up money to fund the next protest."
Maitland indicated that the timing of the protest would depend on when the VTHC and Unions NSW thought they could organise it. Victoria and NSW had the biggest turn-outs on November 15. He added, "I haven't seen a cause in a long time which has been so unifying. I haven't seen so many calls from miners for national stoppages."
Gooden told GLW: "It is imperative that we have a national stoppage and protest early, because the union movement needs to signal to workers who are going to suffer under this legislation that the campaign hasn't ended just because the laws have been passed." Some Victorian unionists are considering March 1, the day the legislation is likely to be enacted.
When asked about industrial action as part of the campaign, Maitland said: "The construction and mining divisions of the CFMEU are working out a plan to take on any company that enthusiastically embraces the new legislation. If any companies try to use the new laws, they're in for a shock."
The CFMEU's plan is positive and necessary, but what is most needed is nationally coordinated industrial action covering a variety of industries and unions, perhaps in the lead-up to the next nationwide protest. While some unions are preparing to take on the employers, the ACTU executive motion is still very much tied to the federal election cycle and getting the ALP elected.
The motion states clearly that the aim is to have Work Choices repealed. Labor leader Kim Beazley committed on the eve of the November 15 protests to "rip up" Work Choices, but for many months prior he avoided promising that a Labor government would get rid of the laws, and he is still avoiding mentioning that the ALP supports the retention of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).
Maitland said the ACTU is unanimously opposed to AWAs and has called on the ALP to get rid of them. He added that despite the last ACTU congress defeating a motion calling for the abolition of individual contracts, both right- and left-wing unions are now united in opposing AWAs. "We are confident that AWAs will be so on the nose by the time of the next election that there won't be any support for them in the Labor Party."
Gooden says the campaign should be less focused on the next federal election because even if the ALP is elected and keeps its promise to "rip up" the legislation, it may not have the numbers in the Senate. The union campaign therefore needs to gather such strong momentum that the bosses are frightened to use the legislation, he said. "We need to make the legislation a dead duck, even if it stays on the books. That's why unionists in Geelong are calling for a nationwide stoppage and protests early in the new year."
Gooden argues: "Our tactics now have to change with the laws going through parliament. They need to be aimed directly at employers, so they feel the heat industrially and economically and know that this is not a fight they can win."
From Green Left Weekly, December 7, 2005.
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