
Issue No 70		07 September 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Interview

New Internationalism

John Maitland talks to Noel Hester

In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise .

With the World Economic Forum on next week, globalisation is in the spotlight again. Tell us where the CFMEU stands.

We're not opposed to globalisation. The trade union movement has always been a very strong proponent of internationalism, which is essentially I suppose a form of globalisation. We are not opposed to people having access to better communications, better transport, and better trade.

What we are opposed to is a form of globalisation which doesn't have a social conscience and which has no rules and regulations, and which favours only trans-national corporations. And that only favours the industrialised nations and leaves developing countries completely out of the benefits that come from improvements in all those areas.

Some of our members have been exposed to international trade and rely upon industries that are involved in international trade to a very, very large extent. Particularly our mining people. About 70% of our product is put into the international marketplace. We've had a pretty strong view about what ought to happen and we have been very vocal on issues relating to trade, particularly in minerals.

So we are not opposed to the World Economic Forum meeting.

You have been pioneers of international campaigning......

Sure. And we would be very critical of the business community if they told us where and when we could have world trade union meetings. But we see the World Economic Forum meeting taking place as an ideal opportunity for us to continue our campaign for a greater commitment to social issues from business and from governments.

We think the Economic Forum provides us with an opportunity to do as workers in other countries have done. Particularly when we see what happened in the United States and what workers are doing in other countries about the neglect of social issues.

Do you see it as an opportunity to network with other organisations in the community as well?

One of the things that we have become very committed to is networking and we believe that only with the united community voice will we be able to make politicians understand that their first responsibility is to improve the life of their citizens - and it is not to build wealth for already very wealthy individuals, and institutions and companies.

We are very happy that a multitude of organisations and community groups have come together to voice a similar concern about people being left out of the equation when it comes to the current form of globalisation.

We have been quite active. Here in NSW our NSW branch has essentially been sponsoring and chairing the meetings of groups of activists who will be attending activities outside the World Economic Forum and we see that those contacts can only strengthen the general move to make sure that we have a more caring society.

With those protests that went on in Seattle last year, and now another groundswell here in Australia, do you see a sea change of community feelings?

I don't think there is any doubt about that. There is no question that it has already affected labour here in Australia because the Labor Party has changed their very strong opposition to having any form of labour rights introduced into the agenda of the World Trade Organisation. Supporting labour rights is now firmly on the agenda.

I think we are also seeing that in the current debate in the Presidential Election in the United States, and we are also seeing more and more people become interested in socially responsible investment. So there is a whole host of ethical issues that are more in focus now as a result of the protests that are taking place, with enormous growth in support for social issues;- - concerns about communities; health; education.

There is a goal I suppose to harness this in some sort of political way?

I actually think that contrary to what is being said about this thing by conservative forces - that it is just a big bunch of ratbags and that they are disorganised - that we are seeing some of the best organised activities and campaigns that certainly I have experienced in the 30 odd years that I have been in the trade union movement. I think it is one of the most refreshing and invigorating, exciting approaches that I have seen.

I have only just got to think of our recent experience with the Rio Tinto campaign. Here is an issue which started off from our point of view with a dispute with a company here in Australia which dealt with freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain, which has been supported very enthusiastically by unionists from many, many countries. In fact from all countries where Rio Tinto operates. They have come together in a form which has been really challenging to the company. They've supported new initiatives where trade unions were able to challenge directors on their own home territory - in the Board Room - with very substantial shareholder support on issues such as corporate governance and labour rights.

Tell us about this strategy of taking it to the boardroom

It is a strategy that has been there before, but we have probably lacked the support and enthusiasm that was necessary to make it successful. Often it is the market that determines how the company reacts to various financial and economic pressures. So if the market sees a company that is very ruthless and is cost cutting, performing well, then they will reward them and the share price goes up. But if the market sees that community reaction to ruthless cost cutting, job-shedding, no social conscience, disregard for the community, is not received very well, then they will punish the companies.

So this is where that influence that we have on companies is now coming more into focus. Particularly now when we are seeing huge superannuation funds and pension funds looking for investments, and where workers have some control over them. You are seeing workers using their own capital to get a more friendly - a more responsible - a more ethical approach.

How successful have you been with Rio Tinto? Does it have its limitations, that sort of approach?

Yes. I think that it is not an approach that can guarantee success. You need to engage in all of your normal campaigning activities, and that includes industrial campaigning, community campaigning as well as this sort of corporate campaigning. Proxy battles; shareholder battles - are just one of the part of the arsenal.

How successful it has been? Well the mere fact that we were able to get those resolutions onto the agenda was quite a significant achievement. The fact that the directors voted unanimously, or recommended a unanimous rejection of the resolutions, was not surprising. But the fact that we were still, in the face of that unanimous recommendation, able to achieve 20% shareholder support for our first resolution on corporate governance, was a huge slap in the face for them. I don't know how to judge this because we have never been involved in it before, but others who have been involved in these sorts of campaigns - particularly the Americans - were astounded that we were able to get 17.5% in support of better labour rights. They were absolutely astounded by that.

So based on other people's judgement, and based on the fact that the directors unanimously recommended against the resolutions and we got that large vote - you have to say it was an overwhelming success.

Now, I wouldn't like to say that we could deliver on that again, because Rio Tinto was a fairly unique target for us. The more we dug, the more enemies we found Rio Tinto actually had., I think it has been one of the more ruthless companies on the international scene.

But you're suggesting they can be isolated.

Yes. There is no question about that. Some of the comments that were made at the shareholders meeting were extremely interesting. We had for example, at the meeting in London, a person from the British shareholders association who said they were inclined to support both resolutions, however, they normally did not vote against a unanimous recommendation of directors. And they said also that they thought that the directors of this Board were relatively good directors, however, they pleaded with the company to again consider the subject of the resolutions. I think that was a fairly significant comment being made by the shareholders association.

The shareholders association in Australia supported the resolution. So it really shows that there is the opportunity to influence capital in terms of some of these issues, provided you are given the opportunity to get out there and state your argument. In many cases major financial institutions don't want to know you. If you say you are from the trade union movement they believe that you ought to be looking after conditions at the workplace and leave economic decisions to capital.

The idea of economic democracy is alien to them?

Yes it is a bit alien to them. Some of these people who are making decisions on investment and recommending investment strategies, really don't have much notion of human rights or ethical behaviour.

Are they shocked at the idea that unions can organise on an international basis?

I think it has been a big shock for them. In fact there has been a fairly subtle debate taking place in Australia since the activities of Rio Tinto were undertaken. We have seen some comments from Stan Wallis that maybe it is too easy for shareholder activism to corner particular issues at shareholders meetings.

Their initial reaction is to make them more secret and less accountable?

Yes. Less accountable and more secret and more difficult to get shareholders' issues - issues that concern large numbers of shareholders - up onto the agenda at meetings.

What role have new technologies played in this campaigning?

A fabulous role. And this is one of the areas that I think trade unions have very much benefited from in terms of globalisation. The globalisation of the media; of telecommunications; of information technology - has been things that we have grabbed enthusiastically. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union, has a strategy of developing workers' networks throughout multinational corporations.

In the past it has been very difficult for us to communicate. We had to rely upon faxes and the old telex machine, and telephone calls at different times through different time zones. All this made it pretty difficult for us. But e-mail has made it very easy for us to communicate.

And the other thing is that electronic translation is also making it easier for us to communicate. In the past, if we were putting together a document which dealt with specific issues and strategies and participation in campaigns we generally had to go out and get professionals to translate and interpret the message - and that would take considerable resources and time.

Now we actually have electronic translation and so you can send a message off which will be translated electronically and it will produce about 95% accuracy. So information technology has been great for us, although we have to find the resources to make sure that our members in developing countries are able to get access fairly cheaply to that sort of information and we are moving along those lines as well.

Do you see an international union body like the ICEM playing a bigger role in your industries?

Yes. The campaign that we had against Rio Tinto I think was one of the campaigns that grabbed the imagination of a lot of people and a lot of organisations. It was the first campaign where we had national federations coming on board with the ACTU; with the British TUC; and with the AFL-CIO. They all joined the campaign which was essentially being run by the ICEM and the CFMEU jointly. Because it was an international campaign obviously we had to use our international organisation but as the campaign got underway we had national federations coming on board to participate. It was very interesting the way we did that and we are going to have a workshop shortly to see how we can fast track that sort of support for campaigns.

Sure, the international trade union secretariats can organise within their sectorial coverage, but if you really want to have the sort of punch there - the power - the oomph - you have to involve the national federations.

What problems have there been in international action by unions?

Obviously the problem that we had in the past was that we were divided by the cold war, and deliberately divided by the cold war. There is much anecdotal evidence that plenty of money was available provided you supported a particular political ideology.

Now, that has dried up for both sides. I am not going to be critical of one side or the other, but it is the best thing that has happened for us because in terms of say, our mining sector, we have almost everyone from all the different political backgrounds, involved in our mining sector and we have been quite successful in making sure that we focus on the issues that are most important to our people. In addition to that of course, the communication issue has been a problem for us in the past and we are taking advantage of new technology and trying to reform the organisations so they are more campaign focussed. They are the issues that plagued us in the past.

Are you optimistic about the future of the movement?

I am. I am quite optimistic about it. I read that Peter Reith is being considered for a change of portfolio, and I think that that is a pretty good sign. Even though they say the trade union movement continues to decline in numbers we still have more than 2 million members and there is no other organisation in Australia - political or religious - that has 2 million dues paying members.

View entire issue - print all of the articles!

Issue 70 contents

Interview: New Internationalism
In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise .

History: Pickets and Police
S11 protestors would do well to be wary. Fred Paterson, CPA member of the Qld Parliament, was bashed by the Queensland police on St Patrick's Day 1948, when a Labor Government was in power in that state.

Education: The WEF -Why Should We Care?
An event like the World Economic Forum attracts all the spin doctors for every interest, often obscuring real issues. For educators the issues may seem remote but a closer look shows that services like public education could be dramatically affected by the unfolding agenda of global trade liberalisation says Rob Durbridge.

Economics: A Vandalised Economy
Since New Zealand was opened up to the forces of globalisation, it has performed dismally, both economically and socially. NZCTU Economist Peter Conway reports.

Unions: Our Vital Role in Society
Eight months into his new role as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet reflects on the challenges facing Australian unions.

International: Turning Up The Heat
John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO says the union movement can and will reform the global economy, for as Dr Martin Luther King taught us, the moral arc of history is long but it bends towards justice.

Satire: Threat to withhold pocket money derails S11 protest
MELBOURNE, Tuesday: Members of the activist collective S11 announced today that they had decided to cancel their protest at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting at Crown Casino.

» Nike Slammed Over Indonesian Factories

» Fairfax Joins Ferals

» Federal Government Blocks Rail Merger

» Auditor-General Blows Whistle On Outsourcing Madness

» Fly By Night Labour Takes Off

» CFMEU Rejects Reith Mischief

» The Organised Olympics

» Killjoy Reith Targets Picnics and Fun

» New Economy Spawns New Plagues

» Multi-national Stymies Peace Talks

» Greed of the Fatcats

» Women Challenge Prejudice in Maritime Industry

» Building Union Raises $42,000 For Paralympians

» Get Organised! NZ Unions Tell Army