En Passant

Could the union movement, or rank and file unionists, organise protests in major cities on 18 April, the first sitting day back, in defence of unions and against the Australian Building and Construction Commission Bill?

With growing inequality and austerity has come growing anger, inchoate in Australia but finding a left wing political expression in places like the UK and US in the form of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. Workers in struggle are the short term solution to the problems of capitalism. Workers in struggle are the long term solution to the problem that is capitalism.

The question for me now becomes how to link the wonderful words of support from union leaders to actions in defence of asylum seekers and refugees; how to ‘keep up the momentum and deepen the support.’ As Amy says, I think we need to be highlighting the industrial action Lady Cilento staff took as one example of the way forward. At the ANU the NTEU called a photo-shoot protest to let them stay and some staff joined the union as a result so the issue has resonance with workers. We should also I think begin discussing civil disobedience as another part of the way forward. Close down Melbourne to close down Manus.

To read Amy’s excellent article click here. Lady Cilento Hospital workers show the way to win

My own view is that to win this fight to free the refugees will require the movement, which about 30% of Australians agree with, needs to move from passive protests to mobilisations that do change minds and actions. That means civil disobedience.

It means shutting down the centres of the major towns with thousands occupying. It means thousands turning up to stop the deportations to the concentration camps. It means unions banning anything to do with the concentration camps. It means building a radical edge to the movement to do that and to bring the thousands and then tens of thousands in to build that militant campaign of workers and protesters.

Since the income tax cuts to compensate for increasing the GST will not deliver real and lasting compensation for workers, and since workers are the one group in society with the power to fix that, the task of militants in our trade unions should be to argue for and organise around winning wages increases to compensate for any increased GST. Over to you militant unions and class conscious workers. Just the threat of GST wage increase strikes might cause some ruling class members to hesitate about increasing the GST. And it might help unions win back some working class support.

The Labor/Greens government in the A.C.T. seems to have the same Liberal Party contempt for cleaners, this time school cleaners.’Migrant workers with few English skills are being mistreated and underpaid while cleaning ACT schools. The worst bit is that the ACT [Labor/Greens] Government has known about this for the past six months and has taken no action against the two cleaning companies involved.’

Tom Orsag writes in Solidarity magazine about union amalgamations and the false hope they may offer. Here is a snippet.

But amalgamations are not the answer to rebuilding the union movement.

Nor are talk-fests, as ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said “Next month union leaders will be gathering for the Australia Disrupted Symposium to discuss the future of work and how we can best represent workers no matter who they are or how they work.”

Unions are built through strikes and industrial action. When unions take action they recruit new members. The Victorian nurses’ union recruited almost 6000 members through its industrial campaign in 2011. The ETU in Victoria has grown from 8500 members in 1995 to 19,000 today under a militant leadership not afraid to take strike action.

To read the whole article click here. Are union amalgamations the answer to declining membership numbers?

  In the latest edition of Solidarity James Supple rebuts the argument that under the China Free Trade Agreement Chinese workers will ‘steal’ Australian jobs.  He says in part: ‘The problem is not with migrant workers coming here but the potential for exploitation as a result of the new agreements. Instead of a xenophobic campaign, […]

CFMEU building union Canberra organiser Johnny Lomax has been arrested. His crime? Negotiating and securing improvements in working conditions and wages for union members. This is a direct attack from the Abbott Government on our ability to protect our wages and our safety at work. We will be gathering outside the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday at 8.40 am to cheer Johnny on in solidarity as he enters to face these malicious and outrageous charges. See you there. If you are in Canberra or nearby come along to support a union which actually fights for its members and help stop this blatant attack on unions and their ability to organise.