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Issue No. 129 | 22 March 2002 |
Not So Happy Campers
Interview: Pulling the Pin International: At the Crossroads Unions: A Case Of Lost Identity History: Rocking the Foundations Industrial: Rocky Road Economics: Cracking a Coldie Poetry: The Right Was Wrong Satire: Heffernan�s Evidence Conclusive: Proves He's An Idiot Review: Upstairs, Downstairs
Giant Rat Fights Cole Commission Queue Jumper Abbott In Cash Grab Rabbit Fence Leads Reconciliation to Classroom Council Takes Up Discrimination Challenge Power Workers To Decide Own Fate Fee Pressure Builds on Beattie Nobel Committee 'Subordinates' Union Rights Columbians Level Death Charges Call To Blockade Burmese Junta
The Soapbox The Locker Room Postcard Cole-Watch Week in Review
Letter to Howard #2 Letter to Howard #3 Jump Before You're Pushed
Labor Council of NSW |
Editorial Not So Happy Campers
Victorian unionist Dean Mighell decided to get some fresh air this week in the most public way and the spray he's delivered the Party is causing waves. Mighell announced he was quitting the ALP and joining the Greens and threatened to take his union with him. His reasons are hardly revelations for Workers Online readers: the party has lost touch with its roots, it treats the union movement with contempt and has become the sort of relation that it is embarrassing to be seen around. Few would argue with his sentiments, the question is whether union affiliation with the ALP is part of the problem or one of the solutions. Affiliated unions would point to their demonstrated ability to influence Party platforms - in NSW, unions combined to overturn the proposal to privatise the power industry. For these unions the real issue is the extent to which this policy should bind Labor Governments, while some in the political wing seek to dilute their influence on the Conference floor. With these issues currently under review in the post-election post mortems, some would see Mighell's decision to pull the pin as premature. But his move does add another factor into the mix for Hawke and Wran to consider: that is, what can the ALP bring to its relationship with the union movement? In a climate where the ALP primary vote is at an all-time low and unions actually have a higher standing in the community than either political party, it is a point well made. As the wings of the labour movement look at ways of improving the tent that they have shared for the past 100 years, the ALP needs to recognise that it is only one side of a relationship. Being the lesser of two evils is no longer enough for a union movement that is prepared to look further afield for political allies to promote its members' interests. In this climate, the ALP needs to work out how much it wants a trade union base and what it's prepared to do to keep it. Otherwise, the tent could soon seem more like a urinal. Peter Lewis Editor
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