Paul Benedek, Brisbane
"Secret listening devices, secret recording devices, no right to silence — this is not Nazi Germany in the '30s, this is Australia 2005 for building workers", explained Scott Wilson, an organiser for the Electrical Trades Union, to 30 union activists at a November 3 public forum titled "Resisting Howard's anti-worker laws".
"An axe murderer gets more rights than a unionist under these laws", said Wilson, because under the new building industry laws, workers have no right to silence when questioned by the government's new Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Wilson also explained that the draconian laws are retrospective, and affect not only workers employed on building sites, but any employee involved in work relating to the building industry. "For example, a workshop making sockets that are to be used in a building is covered by these laws."
Organised by the Socialist Alliance, the forum also heard from alliance activist Mike Byrne, who attended the October 22 Workers Charter conference in New Zealand, where he met organisers of the Unite union.
"Unite now has 4500 members, mostly in fast food and casualised areas", said Byrne. "Its organisers are young, in their twenties, and it's common for these young organisers to head off at 9pm on a Saturday night by motorbike to organise young workers on the job."
Byrne explained that the clearest message from those at the Workers Charter conference — which is seen by many as a step toward a new left party and is organising to produce a monthly newspaper — was that Australian activists "need to put every bit of energy into stopping Howard's IR laws. Having gone through a similar process in New Zealand, they all saw this as a fundamental attack that will affect all other social struggles."
Byrne is a candidate for the Members First ticket in the Community and Public Sector Union, and outlined the ticket's campaign for a fighting, democratic union.
The meeting also heard from Debra Messenger, part of the Enough militant ticket in the Queensland Teachers Union elections. Messenger explained that the QTU is not even mobilising its members for the 9am November 15 union rally.
From Green Left Weekly, November 9, 2005.
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