|
||
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
||
|
|
Issue No. 140 | 14 June 2002 |
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Abbott's Rule of Law
Interview: Party Girl Unions: Touch One, Touch All Industrial: Condition Critical International: Innocence Lost History: Strange Bedfellows Organising: Just Say No Review: Choosing Life Beneath The Clouds Poetry: Did We Make a Big Mistake
The Soapbox The Dressing Room The Locker Room Week in Review Bosswatch
 Luke and LearnDue CreditTom's FooleryMore LathamMore Tom
|
|
|
Unions Touch One, Touch AllBy Jim Marr
********** NSW labour - left, right and centre - came together on a windy Sydney afternoon. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they slapped a collective arm around the CFMEU and raised a figurative finger to the machinations of Commissioner Cole, seven floors above. Cole's attempt to pass his commission off as impartial, last week, didn't wash. Banners alone told that story, pronouncing the disbelief of organisations across the labour spectrum. The TWU, CPSU, TCFUA, ASU, LHMU, MUA, FSU, ETU, AMWU, RTBU, PSA, Plumbers, Teachers, Nurses and Musicians were just some who flagged their defiance. The message, however, was spelled out in more than banners. Serbian iconographer, Rados Stevanovic, drew his tribute to the CFMEU while the Urban Guerillas hammered out their story from the back of a truck. "It's alright for you, you have got everything you need. "It's alright for you to treat me like a disease." Their lyrics could have been purpose-written for a Commissioner, pulling in $660,000 a year, plus perks, while sitting in judgement on building workers organising for an extra $30-$40 a week. The Guerillas rendition of, Touch One, Touch All, provided an appropriate theme for the afternoon. LHMU secretary Annie Owens told the crowd that the secret to the CFMEU's status amongst NSW workers was that it was "generous with its power". "You won't see any Royal Commission into hotel workers because the Government doesn't think we have power," she said. Owens told of two successful disputes last year when predominantly immigrant hotel workers had their spirits and fortunes lifted by the active support of CFMEU members. "Their presence changed two important circumstances," Owens explained. "Our members realised they weren't alone and the bosses knew it too. "If Royal Commission members are staying in a Sydney hotel tonight they would do well to look under their beds because the CFMEU has friends everywhere." The TCFUA's Barry Tubner said the CFMEU was like a big brother to smaller unions. Every time his clothing workers had had trouble, he reported, moral and financial support had been forthcoming. MUA rep Sean Chaffer talked about practical support on 1998 picketlines when his organisation was battling for its survival. The breadth of support must have gladdened Labor Council secretary, John Robertson, who has pronounced factionalism the enemy of trade unionism. Robertson told unions that the $60 million commission was a threat to the existence of each and every one of them. "In the past, we knew the Government was there, pulling the strings," Robertson said. "The difference this time is they have come out of the closet and announced it. "This isn't just about the building unions or even de-unionising the workforce. It is about this Government driving down wages and conditions and that will impact on every Australian. "If they can give the CFMEU the flick, they will start working their way down the list but we will stand together. We will repel this attack and we will win." CFMEU secretary Andrew Ferguson outlined the modus operandi of the Cole Commission. They were, he said, pillorying the union and its activists with statements from bodgey employers, being read into the record without being subject to cross examination. "By and large, the statements they are relying on are from tax cheats and employers who rort the system," Ferguson said. "This morning we heard from a contractor who uses cheap labour from Cambodia, doesn't meet his tax obligations and cuts corners on safety. "He said our delegate was too tough on his company. That's the cheek of this Commission." Ferguson left listeners cheering their approval when he said CFMEU members didn't fear the outcome of a commission, widely tipped to be heading down the track of deregistration or an industry task force. "We have absolute confidence in the outcome here," Ferguson said. "We are confident what their outcome will be but we know what our outcome is - the membership of our union will not be intimidated." Cole's sop to the CFMEU - allowing two people an hour on workplace safety after categorically stating he wouldn't hear such evidence - was never going to balance day after day, week after week, of uncontested "evidence" smearing the union. It's hard to believe he thought it would.
|
| Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue |
|
© 1999-2002 Workers Online 
|
|
