A proud tradition of struggle

Vanguard April 2012 p. 1
Alice M.

(Above: Victorian nurses and midwives vote to begin strike action last November.)

The widely supported struggle and victory by Victorian nurses and their union, the ANF, has lifted confidence in the collective power of mobilised working people and in the fighting capacity of unions. 

The Victorian nurses’ determined mass defiance of FairWork’s draconian anti-worker and anti-democratic laws, in the face of Baillieu Government’s relentless intimidation and threats of thousands of dollars in fines for individual nurses and loss of employment, sent a message of hope in struggle, to many workers and unions.

The nurses’ fight is only one of many intense battles being fought across the country by Australian working class against intensifying attacks by monopoly capital.

Bosses attack...

Local and foreign big business, led by the Business Council of Australia, that holds major power and influence in Australia, are stepping up co-ordinated assault on the working class.  Demands are put on workers and unions to dump their hard won conditions and workplace rights, accept lower wages, no job security and a whole working life of precarious employment.  All to save the corporations their profits from ravages of the capitalist economic crisis.

Big business makes preparations to unleash a more vicious assault on workers and fighting unions. The Liberal governments in NSW and Victoria have signalled their new attacks on unions.  In Victoria, the Baillieu Liberal government is establishing a replica of the Federal government’s original Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) with almost identical powers to crush the Victorian construction unions. The state government offered the head position of the new watchdog outfit to notorious Nigel Hadgkiss, the architect of the Howard government’s original ABCC. It follows close on the heels of Victorian construction unions’ battle with giant Grocon Construction  pushing non-union agreement on workers and banning union flags on its construction sites.

(Above: leadership, mobilisation and community support built the victory for Victorian nurses.)

And workers hit back

Nationally, the MUA has been in struggle with big local and international stevedoring companies for an EBA that guarantees decent wages and conditions, job security and same conditions for international workers working in the Australian ports and waters. The Western Australian branch of the MUA has been locked in a 9 month battle with Chevron, a giant US gas and oil multinational.  Chevron’s massive Gorgon resource project is importing overseas labour before offering jobs to local workers.  The MUA is demanding that the jobs from the resources projects go to local workers first and Chevron buys materials for the project from local manufacturers, instead of sourcing them from overseas countries.

Workers’ frustrations with legal restrictions imposed on their rights to organise and struggle, and the deepening alienation and cynicism with politicians explodes during the brief EBA negotiations period.  It is a measure of working people’s desire for a strong and independent union movement that’s not beholden to any parliamentary political party.

The Australian working class has a long and proud tradition of fearlessly resisting attacks by capital and for improvements to wages, workplace rights and conditions, job security, living standards for the community, for the rights of Aboriginal people, for democratic rights, peace, social justice, environment and international working class solidarity.  Where there’s been strong and united leadership workers have never stepped back from collective struggle, whether it’s to defend and improve their own working conditions, rights to organise and belong to a union, the right to struggle on the job, for justice in the community, peace and democratic rights and for the better society. 

Experience has proved time and time again that strong leadership solely dedicated to building a powerful and united workers movement on the ground, that relies first and foremost on the organised and mobilised rank and file workers and their many supporters in the community can release the enormous potential and power of mobilised working people.   There are many examples of this in the history of Australia’s working class.

A new leadership is emerging in the ACTU.  It is heartening that Dave Oliver, the incoming new Secretary of the ACTU publicly offered his “renewed commitment to campaigning and a stronger national presence from the movement as a whole”.  It is also encouraging that he plans to focus on jobs and manufacturing as one of the ACTU priorities.