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Issue No. 134 | 03 May 2002 |
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The Hijacking of May Day
Interview: Youth Group History: Back To The Future Industrial: On the Street Unions: The New Deal Legal: The Police State Road Women: What Women Want Politics: Street Party International: The Costs of War Review: Songs of Solidarity Satire: Bono Satisfies World Hunger for Preachy Rockstars Poetry: Woomera
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review Tool Shed
 Doctors in the BushM1 Open LetterJulian OnlineMay Day DebacleMothers Day MusingsGreetings From Canada
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Unions The New Deal
***************** In the third week in April 2002 seven NSW Union leaders signed an inter union construction industry pact and in doing so they redefined what is possible in the practice of multi union campaigns. In my view this is an extremely significant development and has the potential to redefine the boundaries for what is possible in the practice of contemporary unionism in Australia. The idea of union pacts and solidarity arrangements between unions is an idea as old as the union movement itself. We have historically understood at a very deep level that more unity is more powerful than less unity. Despite this few would argue that we been particularly unified as a movement over the last 20 years and at various time we have been far from it. Yet there has never been a time when we have needed to be more unified. On this background it is difficult to overstate the significance of the 2002 Building and Civil Construction Industry Pact. It really is an extraordinary leap forward in the practice of contemporary unionism and the leaders involved in signing the pact deserve acknowledgement for their stance. The Pact works on several levels. At it's most basic level the pact commits unions to old fashion principles of solidarity and touch one touch all. But the Pact goes much further requiring unions to value diversity of opinion. You really have to pause for a moment to let the significance of this sink in. In NSW we not only have a left and a right faction, but you also have deep divisions within both the left and the right. The Unions in the NSW construction industry have a history based in each of the sub factional groupings. The parties in fact take this issue head on and specifically agree to keep factionalism out of the picture. Signatories include the ETU and the TWU, the CFMEU, AMWU, PGU, AWU and the Labor Council of NSW. So how do you leave behind years of factional battles, court battles, industrial turf wars and keep divisive ALP based factional battles out of your campaigns? The answer it seems is simple - you just agree that you are going to do it and then commit yourself to making it happen. What I hear you say 'we will just wait and see what happens'? Well consider that visiting unionists from oversees are often perplexed by our factional structures. It's not like this in other parts of the world so why shouldn't construction union in NSW choose real dialog and unity over division? The real insight here is to see that the Pact reverses our normal approach to campaigning. So instead of saying 'given what we have to work with what can we do', the Pact starts with the bold question 'if anything were possible what would we do?' By asking the question assuming anything was possible, then the real barriers to unity are placed under the spotlight. The breakthrough in the construction industry has occurred because unions have agreed to consciously remove barriers to unity from their campaign. For example, the parties have agreed to leave the past issues such as mistrusts, dislikes and petty jealousies in the past and to move forward around goals such as "building a fighting force for union members". If during the course of the campaign a past issue arises, then according to the Pact concerns around this issue will not be honored because such concerns may prove to be a barrier to building the movement in the construction industry. Can it really that easy? The Pact also codifies the standards of behavior that unions expect from one another. For example Union secretaries commit to honoring their word. That is doing what they say they going to do when they say they going to do it. Equally importantly, unions commit to follow a dispute settlement process if an issue arises. In other words, it's possible to make a mistake and get back on track by being responsible for what you have done. So the construction unions have created a much needed rule book. If we have a dark and a light side to our movement maybe we could characterize it as being made up of passion and optimism on the one hand and resignation and cynicism on the other. What is striking about the Pact is that its authors have struck a bold statement for the former over the latter. It's a statement about who we are and what we are about and conscious decision to break from the past. If six boofy blokes from the NSW construction industry led by the Labor Council of NSW can generate an inspirational initiative like this Pact, then the challenge is on for all unions. I mean where can't this be done in a multi union campaign? Isn't it the new standard? **********************
The Building and Civil Construction Unions Pact The parties to this Pact acknowledge that the unions involved in the Building and Civil Construction Industries have an on going responsibility to improve the wages conditions of employment and the safety of building workers in their industry. It is recognized that the best way to achieve this objective is to strengthen the unity of the building unions and to continue to enhance our organising capacity. This unity is essential in the context of the escalating attacks on worker and trade union rights. In November 2001 the Labor Council of NSW facilitated a meeting of Building and Civil Construction Unions. A consensus emerged at the meeting that the current generation of union leadership stand for the following objectives: � the increased unionisation of building and construction and associated industry workers, � building a fighting force of union members, and � the empowering building and construction workers to actively own their unions. The workshop discussed at length past divisions amongst unions in the NSW Building and Civil Construction Industries for example issues such as; � right and left � hard and soft � the influence of ALP politics, and � other historical differences None of these influences were seen to have sufficient weight within the current environment to prevent the Unions entering into this pact for the greater good of the trade union movement and rank and file building workers. Commitment to the Pact The Unions choose to sign this agreement and in doing so; � commit to working strategically and co-operatively towards achieving common objectives, � commit to valuing the diversity and the independence of each of the unions, � commit to actively support the building and strengthening of each of the other unions � commit to the resolution of disputes in a manner consistent with other commitments made, and � commit to not allowing ALP politics, "left, right, hard, soft, etc" to interfere, undermine or act as a barrier to co-operation. What is required of the Unions involved Touch one touch all 1. Accepting and acting on the basis that the pact has at its heart the old union motto of touch one touch all 2. Valuing diversity of opinion 3. Accepting that such unions have separate democratic processes, histories and cultures 4. Resolving differences of opinion and valuing the need to work as a collective of unions
Acting at all times with integrity towards one another 1. Honoring your word 2. Not publicly attacking or denigrating each other 3. Following an agreed dispute settlement procedure where there are differences between unions Campaign and Resources 1. Committing to the allocation of additional resources that will support a number of campaigns in the Building and Civil Construction Industries which are designed to meet the objectives set out in this Pact. These campaigns will focus on improving the quality of life of workers and their families by: � securing quality "time out" from long working hours; � demanding employers provide workers with adequate time off for them to participate in community affairs; � demanding greater Health & Safety in the workplace; � proactively exposing employers who do not comply with employment or employment related laws; � increasing active union membership; � improving wages and conditions via enterprising agreements. 2. A commitment of time by the relevant union decision makers to ensure that the process is fully backed by their union decision making processes and members. 3. The relevant union secretaries (or their nominee) available on a regular basis to consult and co-ordinate agreed campaigns. Dispute Procedure Should a disagreement arise between unions involved in this Pact the following procedure will apply: 1. In the first instance disputed matters will be discussed between the affected parties, ie. Delegates, Union Officials, Union Secretaries etc. 2. If the matter remains unresolved the parties shall refer the matter to the relevant union secretary(or nominee) for resolution. 3. If the matter remains unresolved, the parties shall refer the matter to the Labor Council who will facilitate a process aimed at resolving the dispute. The parties commit to acting with good faith towards each other throughout this procedure. Regional Organising As a consequence of the undertakings given by all the Unions signatories to this Pact, it is agreed that the Unions will support the establishment of Building and Construction Groups via the Trades and Labor Council's in regional areas.
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