By James Vassilopoulos
BRISBANE — The title of the Australian Council of Trade Union's congress, September 1-5, was "Negotiating the Future". A more apt title would have added "Away".
This, the first congress since the election of the federal Liberal government, should have provided an honest assessment of the state of play, some plan to combat the Howard government offensive and some real debate. Sadly, it scored zero on all three points.
The congress was more of a media stunt, with vague policies to suit all, a little left rhetoric and a few hollow campaigns. So, for example, the "action" plan on racism will focus on "lobbying, information campaigns with unions" and "media attention".
All the resolutions had been worked out months before by Labor's right and left factions.
There was more debate scribbled on the toilet doors of the Brisbane City Hall (the congress venue), than in the congress itself. One delegate, attending their first congress, commented: "It's a joke, a waste of time; it's all stitched up beforehand".
In her opening, ACTU president Jennie George stated that if the Howard government thought its laws would break "our spirit, our resolve", they "have been proved wrong".
She stated the unions had had many successes, pointing to the building industry wage campaigns, wage increases in the education sector, the Citipower dispute, the nurses victory in Victoria and the defence of workers in the coal industry.
She only briefly touched on the movement's weaknesses, including the level of "organisation and low rates of unionisation" and amalgamations which had yet to be completed.
Employers are on the offensive, and the Liberals have managed to push through much of their initial reactionary agenda, including the Workplace Relations Act, privatisation of Telstra, budget cuts, slashing some 20,000 jobs in the public sector, cuts to child-care and nursing homes and cuts to public and higher education. Despite this, there was no honest assessment by the ACTU hierarchy.
Union membership, in percentage terms, is the lowest for 70 years. Award salaries have gone up only 6.2% over the last five years. Australia has one of the highest percentages of part-time workers in the OECD — 25% of the work force. Workers are working longer hours and working harder, and many not being paid overtime.
While most of this was recognised, the solutions proposed were completely inadequate.
Despite widespread reporting that the congress had "voted down enterprise bargaining" the resolution on wages policy was simply a repackaging of the old policy. The policy states, "Collective bargaining may involve enterprise, corporation, industry". Clearly this allows for enterprise bargaining.
In practice not much will change. Currently strong unions, like the construction union, already pursue industry-wide bargaining. It will still be difficult for weaker unions to do so.
Other resolutions were passed in solidarity with the maritime workers, on child-care, services to the public, economic development and union membership.
The worst feature was the lack of debate. The overwhelming majority of delegates were hand-picked by national union officials. Many state branches of unions were under-represented.
All the major policy positions had been worked out beforehand. Only minor amendments were moved from the floor. Nearly all the resolutions received unanimous support.
All full-time officers of the ACTU were elected unopposed, as were all the national executive and council positions.
To further bureaucratise the ACTU, congresses will now be held every three years rather than two. Officers elected at this congress will not face election until 2003.
A number of delegates, when pressed privately, expressed frustration with the congress. One told Green Left Weekly, "Some delegates changed their travel details and went home early, because the whole thing was a waste".
Another delegate said, "This is my sixth congress. The first time I went I took heaps of notes, thinking 'This is it, where decisions are made'. The next time I learned that the decisions were already made."
Despite the decision not to enter a formal accord, relations between the unions and the ALP remains essentially unchanged. George insisted that unions "should not abandon their links with Labor" and "Labor governments are best for working people".
This is despite the fact that Kim Beazley didn't commit a Labor government to repeal the Liberals' anti-union laws, nor did he say that Labor would oppose individual contracts or non-union enterprise bargaining.