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REDFLAG | 14 JUNE 2021 PUBLICATION OF SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE REDFLAG.ORG.AU

6

The union movement will not

be revived by memes

Kath Larkin social media work got me reflecting on the fairly right to take industrial action, they mostly avoid
modest things I’ve been able to achieve alongside doing so, instead opting for class collaborationist
my workmates in the rail industry and how we approaches to negotiations. Third is that most
achieved them. rights that workers have won throughout history
he Australian Council of Trade Unions Things like getting maternity uniforms and came on the back of illegal industrial action under
under the leadership of Secretary Sally sanitary bins into male-dominated workspaces, both Labor and Liberal governments.
McManus has been marked by ever in- winning improvements to health and safety on Our unions are in crisis; fewer than 15 percent
T creasing class collaboration in the union the job, securing paid pandemic leave, preventing of Australian workers are members; wages have
movement, particularly during the pandemic. unfair sackings and winning pay rises, among stagnated and are projected to decline in real
Rank-and-file teachers were forced to fight other things. terms over the coming year; insecure work is
not only the government but their own union to What was involved in achieving these victo- increasing; and there are constant wage theft and
enforce key safety measures at work. We heard ries? Conversations, workplace meetings, peti- rorting scandals.
barely a peep from health unions as their mem- tions, marching through the streets, unsanctioned Yet all the ACTU gives us is memes, exhortations
bers on the front lines were forced to work with stop-works, picket lines, blockades, occupations to call politicians, and photo-ops of union leaders
inadequate PPE. Union leaders lifted barely a fin- of the bosses’ offices, forcing CEOs and senior standing outside of workplaces. It’s bad news.
ger anywhere to fight for migrant workers thrown management to face tens of angry workers and, The good news is that it doesn’t have to be
onto the scrap heap and forced to line up in the crucially, strikes. this way. The revival of the union movement will
streets for food vouchers. What has never been important to any of these happen inside the workplace. Sometimes it will
The now disgraced leadership of the tertiary wins? Memes on the internet. Sure, most of us in happen one conversation at a time, sometimes it
education union was defeated by their own activist circles use them. Sometimes they’re a hit. will happen with a bunch of politicised workers
rank and file as they attempted to do deals with But a strategy centred on them is never going to taking an initiative. Sometimes it will happen in
university bosses to reduce workers’ pay and revive the union movement—especially when a seismic shift—as long as we aren’t drowned in
conditions. The United Workers Union and the designed by the same geniuses who’ve presided McManus memes in the meantime.
Australian Services Union, with the backing and over the movement’s decline for decades. Every union revival has relied on something
support of the ACTU, joined with employer bod- When I looked up “Upcoming events” on the of a militant minority: a small but growing layer
ies to reduce the award conditions in hospitality ACTU website, two of the three listed were for within the union movement that pushes to get
and administration. social media training. Never mind training for organised, to build strength on the ground and,
That then Industrial Relations Minister Chris- rank-and-file workers on how to map a workplace, of course, uses that organising to strike—the only
tian Porter referred to Sally McManus as his “BFF” how to organise, how to recruit to the union and way we force serious concessions from the bosses
last March gives you a pretty clear indication of build power. Nah, just teach officials how to write and build confidence in our own side.
what McManus and the ACTU represent to the a snappy tweet. Radical politics has been crucial to every union
ruling class. One fact that the Australian Unions Facebook revival, from the syndicalists of the early twen-
For public purposes, the friendship with the page has been pointing to lately is the decline in tieth century, the communists of the 1930s, who
government is now on ice. The Australian Unions wages growth, which it attributes to the last eight organised in situations long thought impossible,
Facebook page, run by the ACTU, has meme after years of federal Liberal governments. And it’s one or the broad-based radicalism attached to the an-
meme criticising the Liberal National government. of the rare instances of the ACTU acknowledging ti-war movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
This page should be an inspiring catalogue of the link between a lack of industrial action and This approach isn’t the easiest, and it can’t
the might of the organised working class, of our low wage growth. be done by hiring a few graphic designers and
glorious movement leading workers against boss- It’s true that the Liberals are overseeing an- communications directors. But it’s the only thing
es. Instead it’s just lame, disingenuous trash, with ti-strike laws. But the ACTU ignores a few import- that works. Instead of memes and bullshit artistry
heady statements like “united we bargain”—oh ant facts. First is that federal Labor governments from the likes of McManus, we need to rebuild
boy, let the ruling class tremble. also presided over anti-worker and anti-strike fighting, rank-and-file unionism. And we need to
The resources the union movement wastes on laws. Second is that, when unions do have the legal build a socialist movement to do so.
Protesting against war profiteers in Brisbane

Priya De attendees, such as Palestinians and West Papuans. Chaser revealed a certain lax security attitude by
We chanted for refugee rights, because the same getting inside the conference despite displaying a
people barracking for war torture those displaced QR code that linked not to a Land Forces ticket, but
by conflict. We demanded that the vast wealth to the Chaser website.
FOR THE FIRST THREE days of June, thou- allocated for the military be redirected to social Also on the first day, a protester had a tooth
sands of engineers, public servants and business necessities: money for health and education, not knocked out during an arrest. On the second
moguls involved in the global arms trade packed for weapons corporations. day, campaigners from the group Disrupt Land
the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre for Some war criminals scurried into the convention Forces protested inside the conference, climbing
the Land Forces 2021 exhibition. centre behind police escorts. Others made a point onto a tank. All were arrested. Among the array
The gathering didn’t pass without opposition. of barging through protesters. On one occasion, a of charges was “entry with intent to commit an
Speakers at a protest on the opening morning group of attendees passed members of Socialist indictable offence”, which carries a maximum
included Aboriginal activist Samuel Woripa Alternative, who were holding a previous edition of penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
Watson and Greens MP for South Brisbane Amy Red Flag bearing the cover “Afghanistan: a criminal It’s an indication of the priorities of the cops
McMahon. war”. They paused and laughed, “That’s us!” that such excessive charges would be laid to
Our message was clear: no war, and no money Police behaviour ranged from befuddled to ag- protect weapons industry bosses from embarrass-
for war. Speeches and chants opposed the current gressive. The opening morning’s protest marched ment. But activists were not deterred; the protests
drive towards conflict with China and expressed despite police opposition, and a few dozen people were considered a success. We will need more
solidarity with peoples under occupations that are briefly stormed a cafe in which Land Forces at- anti-war action in the future, as the drums of war
aided by the weapons produced by Land Forces tendees were gathered. Some comedians from the beat louder.