Firstly, builders’ labourers do the most difficult work. The work is fraught with all kinds of safety issues. Every time you go on a building site, you risk injury. Without union support, you are on your own. I say this from personal experience and also because my nephew is a building worker. Every year, more workers die on construction sites than in any other industry.
ACTU ditches building workers
On 17 July 2024 ACTU secretary Sally McManus suspended the construction division of the CFMEU from the peak body. The New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has moved to eject the CFMEU from the Labor Party in his state. The Queensland premier Steve Miles has fallen into line with this attack by disassociating the Labor Party from the CFMEU Queensland branch. The Labor Party that owes its life to the unions has cut the umbilical cord and moved to the right to portray itself as a party of business. There have been no findings against the in Queensland. The ACTU and QCU should be working with union members, not against them. There is no reason to leave members workers without representation against the boss, especially at a time of crisis in living standards. But the corruption allegations by Labor and LNP politicians tell only part of this murky story. What companies are offering the kick backs? See Black Hole: CFMEU, governments, BHP, black coal giants in $2.5B worker wage swindle .
Background. One time president of the ALP in Queensland and former state secretary of the electrical trade union (ETU), Dick Williams, used to say that the very first agenda item at the state conference of the union was its affiliation with the Australian Labor Party. The ETU was briefly expelled from the Labor Party when it ran a campaign against the Labor government’s privatization of Queensland Rail under Anna Bligh.
Despite the proximity of both state and federal elections, it’s looking to me as if it is the Labor Party that wants to disaffiliate from key unions such as the CFMEU, not the other way round. .
Despite there being no criminal charges currently against CFMEU officials in Queensland, Steven Miles backed up Anthony Albanese by saying the state branch of the party will not accept any donations from the CFMEU. Miles who looks unlikely to be re-elected is taking a gamble because in previous state elections the ALP has relied heavily upon union support, in particular support from the CFMEU.
Not since the Hawke government de-registered the Builder’s Labourers Federation has relations between the Labor Party and the building unions been so strained. The sellout of SEQEB workers under the prices and incomes accord that split the ALP in Queensland. It is doubly ironic that Miles should be calling out the CFMEU when he owes his premiership to the fact that Annastacia Palaszczuk could not manage the relationship between the government and the union.
The Australian government’s inaction over the genocide in Palestine has also produced a rift inside the Labor Party resulting in the resignation of West Australian senator Fatima Payman. The irony there was that Albanese himself was supposed to be a supporter of Palestine.
What choice do building unions have but to challenge the Labor government when their members are dying or being badly injured on the Cross River Fail project? It’s looking to me as if Labor governments are going to introduce tough sanctions against building unions across the country.
Meanwhile, nearly all the unions have pulled back from supporting social issues such as the Palestinians in Gaza. ETU QLD claims to have lost 400 members because of its support for the YES campaign in the referendum on having an indigenous voice to parliament. The MUA is worried about losing 80 members in north Queensland for its support of Palestine. Neither union has sent its officials to offer public support to the Justice for Palestine Magan-djin rallies during a campaign that is in its 10th month.
Meanwhile, there have been a lot of statements made but little action from the ACTU on Palestine. Not surprising, given that the leadership is joined at the hip with the Australian Labor Party.
I do not think that union members’ money should be donated to any political party. If union members wish to support indigenous peoples to gain their freedom from colonisation, they should use their industrial muscle against governments and companies that support genocide. I think we are witnessing the death of the Labor Party. A fair chunk of its supporters already vote Green which has reached its peak. The parliamentary road to socialism is looking more tenuous than ever.
For those that are looking for answers to this crisis I recommend reading Ernie Lane’s Dawn to Dusk – reminiscences of a rebel. If you email me at iancurr@bigpond.com and send $10 for postage I will mail you a free copy.
Dare to struggle …
Ian Curr, 17 July 2024.