Emma Clancy
French students have just led millions of workers to victory in the fight against their conservative government's CPE (First Employment Contract) law, which was a major attack on the rights of young workers. Showing the real power that students and workers have in society when they unite and take action, the French student and trade unions refused to give in and finally forced the government to back down and withdraw the law.
The CPE would have meant that workers under 26 years of age could be fired for no reason during their first two years of employment. Beginning in January, there was an explosion of student organising against the law, reaching the point where 75% of French universities and more than 1000 schools were occupied or "severely disrupted" by strikes. Inspired by the students' stand against the government's free-market attacks, the workers joined their struggle. Following a series of strikes and protests that involved more than 3 million workers, the government withdrew the law on April 10. This is a victory for working people everywhere, and students and workers around the world are taking inspiration from the French example.
Work Choices = no choice!
The CPE is very similar to PM John Howard's Work Choices legislation, which removes the right of workers to challenge unfair dismissals in businesses with less than 100 employees. The difference is that the Australian legislation is even worse, as it targets workers of all ages and includes many more attacks! Enacted on March 27, Work Choices is already destroying workers' rights and conditions. There have already been many reported cases of workers being sacked, given no redundancy pay, then offered their jobs back on individual contracts as casuals with reduced pay and conditions.
Bosses have immediately begun to use the new laws against trade unions. Telstra banned union officials from work sites where workers are on individual contracts and St Vincent de Paul has used the new legislation to dock a worker's pay just for talking to a union official!
At the same time as the Howard government is ramming through these massively unpopular laws, it is also trying to divide working people using racism. Last November, after 600,000 workers protested against Work Choices — in the largest workers' rights demonstration in Australian history — Howard was on the nose, and polls put his approval rating at its lowest since 2001. A very cynical and deliberate campaign of racism was whipped up by the government and the media, especially in New South Wales.
This campaign contributed to the racist lynch-mob attacks in Cronulla in December. Then Howard bounced back in the polls by exploiting people's fear and anxiety. The government is using racism to drive a wedge between people and to take public attention away from it's unpopular legislation in an effort to weaken a united fight-back against the laws. This means that when we're fighting Work Choices, we need to loudly and clearly reject Howard's racism at the same time.
Student strike against Howard
Resistance is calling on students and young workers in Australia to follow the lead of the French students and strike against Work Choices on June 1, in the lead-up to the major nationwide trade union protests being organised for June 28. High school students, university and TAFE students and young workers taking action together on June 1 will inspire other workers to strike on June 28 — to show Howard that the vast majority of people believe we have the right to bargain collectively, to job security, and to decent wages and safe working conditions. These laws remove the rights and dignity of working people, and force us to "negotiate" with bosses on an individual level, but by uniting together and taking action, we can defeat them.
Work Choices directly affects students because the majority of students in Australia are also workers — over 60% have part-time jobs. Young people are already particularly exploited in the workplace, as most young workers have low-paying casual jobs, largely in non-unionised industries. This means we'll be badly affected by the new laws.
Students and young workers in New Zealand are providing an exciting and inspirational example in their Supersize My Pay campaign against youth wages and for an increase in the minimum wage. They have organised student walkouts and actions against fast-food companies and others that exploit young people, and they have won real gains for young workers' rights, including forcing a number of fast-food restaurants to agree to phase out youth wage rates..
These victories show that if we put up a fight, we can win. The French example also shows the important role that students can play in sparking resistance and inspiring the broader community to fight. So let's unite and take action here against Howard's anti-worker laws!
[Organising meetings for the student strike will be happening around the country. To find out how you can come along and get involved, visit <http://www.resistance.org.au>.]
From Green Left Weekly, April 26, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.