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Australian Options — Left discussions for social justice and political change
Australian Options Publishing Inc.
Reviewed by Melanie Sjoberg The second issue of a new quarterly journal, Australian Options, is now available. The journal aims to contribute to discussions on the left and describes itself as a journal "challenging the ideas dominating Australian mainstream debate". The project was initiated in Adelaide in June. The editorial and sponsorship list includes former Communist Party leaders, trade unionists and left academics including Peter Murphy, Rod Durbridge, Brian Aarons, Chris White, Paul Noack, John Wishart, Frank Stillwell, Wendy Lowenstein and Suzanne Franzway. The current issue, on "The Future of Unions", presents a range of analyses, some of which are critical of the current direction of the ACTU. The lead article, by former Building Workers Industrial Union leader Tom McDonald, welcomes the ACTU document Towards 2000 as a valuable contribution to shifting the direction of unions. Subsequent articles by union researcher Peter Ewer and MEAA(SA) vice president Frank Barbaro, however, suggest that there needs to be a rethink of the strategy of building "super-unions" tied to the ALP. McDonald supports the ACTU document's assertion that enterprise bargaining empowers workers and that the trade union movement is correct to take a pro-active stance in relation to Australia's "serious economic problems". He argues the need to develop strong workplace organisation because capitalism has the upper hand as a result of globalisation. The weakness for the working class, says McDonald, is the increasing social inequity, particularly high unemployment which creates a reserve army of labour within national boundaries. McDonald therefore suggests that unions need to promote the linking of human rights to trade, and strengthen solidarity with union movements in the developing world. In so arguing, McDonald fails comment on the support that the ACTU currently provides to SPSI, the Suharto-backed yellow union in Indonesia. Ewer's view is that Towards 2000 promotes increased State intervention and therefore relies on the ALP-ACTU nexus as the centrepiece of union strategy. This, he argues, "misconceives the nature of the challenge to trade unions". Ewer suggests that the Business Council of Australia has successfully promoted a strategy that rejects unions as "legitimate actors". The industrial relations policies of several state Liberal governments which support non-union participation in the enterprise bargaining process are clear evidence of this. Ewer argues that we need to recognise that we are likely to face a series of protracted struggles to defend the legitimacy of unions, and communities from the "vagaries of the free market". He proposes a union strategy beyond reformism which regains the history of the labour movement through broader struggles which rely, not on lobbying government, but on communities taking control. Barbaro identifies the contradiction between the ACTU strategy for super-unions and the framework in which enterprise bargaining operates. He suggests that smaller unions are better placed to respond to the nature of workplace located enterprise bargaining. Barbaro counters McDonald's view that the past is behind us and argues that ignoring the impact of the Accord, super-unions and the ALP-ACTU link prevents us from understanding the present crisis. He correctly points out that the current political power of the ACTU stems from the Accord process, not from the membership of trade unions. Conversely, he argues that the seeming power of the ACTU has not stalled the decline in union membership, nor has ACTU input into government promoted greater employment. In order for unions to survive, says Barbaro, they must renew their role as agents of social change: "Unions [should] remain driven by broader and more public interests. They include the interests of workers and their communities which can embrace environmental issues, human rights, respect for minorities and diversity, matters of social justice, consumer interests and the challenge to sustain social and physical environments." Each issue of Australian Options will focus on one theme; the first dealt with employment and unemployment, the second with the future for unions. Themes proposed for future issues include the changing roles of women, and green politics. Articles and correspondence can be mailed to PO Box 431, Goodwood SA 5034.