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Issue No. 163 | 29 November 2002 |
Lessons from History
Interview: Trade Secrets Industrial: It�s About Overtime, Stupid Unions: Full Steam Ahead Bad Boss: The BBQ Battle Axe Economics: Different Dimensions of Debt History: Raking the Coals History Special: Wherever the Necessity Exists History Special: Learning from the Past History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship' Politics: Regime Change for Saddam International: World War Corporate: Industrious Thinking Review: Jack High Culture: Duffy�s Song Satire: A Nation of Sooks Poetry: Mr Flexibility
And On the Seventh Day � Satan Joins Union Casuals Written Out of the Script ACTU Examines The Cap Option On Hours No Sweetener for Diabetic Workers Pressure Goes on Apartheid Employers ASIC Turns Blind Eye on Dodgy Boss Family Test Case a Priority Campaign Brutal Bashing Sparks Prison Strike Minister Challenged by Cleaners Uni Backs Down On Regional Review
The Soapbox Awards The Locker Room Bosswatch Month In Review
State Based Organising Gino on the Gong
Labor Council of NSW |
Editorial Lessons from History
As some of the articles summarised in this month's issue illustrate, the idea of grassroots organising is nothing new, indeed it is the bedrock on which union density was built. The stories of small groups of workers banding together and forming their own networks of activism flies in the face of the accepted 'dependency theory' that it was the institutional structures of the centralised industrial relations system that delivered unions their base. Despite the zealotry of some, this is not some US import, but a social phenomenon as dinky-di as the barbeque. As Rae Cooper notes, this realisation makes the task of organising in the modern context more attainable, less a new science imported from abroad, more a return to our roots. Likewise, with the movement's industrial agenda. Fighting for reduced working hours is nothing new; the eight-hour day was the campaign that unified workers in the early parts of the 20th century. That we are waging the same battles today, says more about the complacency of the beneficiaries of these battles, than the folly of the original combatants. But the trade unions have always been more than just bread and butter on the table; it has been a movement to a better life for all. As Bob Hawke told those attending this week's 75th Anniversary forum for the ACTU unions have always looked beyond the workplace to take a leadership role in the broader society. Hawke focused on the visionary role the union movement played in promoting the post-war immigration program, despite the concerns of sections of its own base; the union leadership had the vision to see the national interest and the courage to pursue it. All of which makes the criticism of some in the movement who have embraced 'Labor for Refugees' for straying outside a traditional labour agenda look just a little revisionist. If the man who bridged the two wings of the labour movement like no one before him sees it, why do his successors in Canberra and the the various State Parliaments appear to have such a blind spot? The rich history of the union movement will never be a millstone; it is that which gives extra meaning to every little struggle for fairness at work and in the broader society. It is our guiding light. Peter Lewis Editor
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