By Ray Fulcher
MELBOURNE — "Nine years of concessions under the ALP-ACTU Accord have left the unions seriously weakened. Labor politicians continue to assure big business that they can better deliver wage cuts and industrial peace", said Democratic Socialist Party Victorian secretary Dave Holmes on the eve of the November 10 strike. "If we rely on the ALP to lead this fight, we will be defeated."
To win the fight against Kennett's attacks, he added, there will have to be strong, united and sustained campaign of industrial action, public action and mobilisation. "It is ludicrous to think that the ALP has the stomach for such a fight, especially with a federal election around the corner."
The campaign should also be democratically organised and controlled through mass meetings, Holmes said. Rather than supporting Labor's alternative anti-worker program it should defend workers' basic rights, such as:
- The right to freely organise and to decide democratically on membership of a union.
- The right to strike and take other industrial action without penalties against individual workers or unions.
- The right to picket.
- The right to take industrial action in solidarity with other workers.
- The right to government-guaranteed full employment and a shorter work week (without loss in pay) to share the work around.
- The right to fair wages automatically adjusted for rises in the cost of living, with a guaranteed minimum income for the unemployed, pensioners, single parents, injured workers, people with disabilities and other welfare recipients.
- No discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexuality or age.
- The right to minimum wages and conditions, including leave, standard working hours, penalty rates, overtime, meal breaks etc.
- The right to universal health care, free education and child-care.
"This is still a wealthy country", said Holmes. "It can afford to guarantee these rights — if the rich and big business are made to carry a fair share of the tax burden. Over the last nine years, the federal Labor government has attacked these rights and significantly shifted the tax burden away from the rich and onto workers on medium incomes.
"Kennett is in power in Victoria because the public was given a poor choice: either accept another term of 'hard Labor' or vote for the Coalition. Now, under Kennett's direct attack on our rights, we will be told by some union officials that the only alternative is to vote back a Labor government. That would only continue the attacks at a slower pace, through 'enterprise bargaining' and the Accord", Holmes said.
"Both Liberal and Labor are committed to the 'free market' policies of the New Right. We need to build a new party that stands for the rights of workers and other exploited sectors instead of slavishly doing the bidding of big business. The rapid progress of the NewLabour Party and the Alliance in New Zealand shows that it is possible to break from the two-party monopoly."
The Democratic Socialists call for an alliance of all who are interested in building a progressive political alternative to the Liberal and Labor parties. Along with other militant unionists, the DSP is also calling for another 24-hour strike and rally on November 30, the date set aside by the ACTU and VTHC as a national day of action against the Liberals' attack on workers' rights.