May 27 was an important day for the union movement in Australia. It was the day that a unionist who will play an major role in the campaign to defend unions from the onslaught of anti-union laws — Craig Johnston — was released from prison.
Johnston, the former Victorian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), was a political prisoner. He was jailed over his participation in an industrial dispute to save the jobs of 29 workers who had been sacked by Johnson Tiles and replaced with lower-paid, non-union workers from Skilled Engineering. Johnston is the first unionist since the 1980s to be jailed over an industrial dispute.
After he was elected as AMWU metal division secretary in 1998, and AMWU state secretary in 2000, Johnston faced increasing hostility from the employers, the state ALP government, the media, and conservative sections of the union movement. The hostility increased with each victory that the Victorian AMWU branch scored against the employers, who made it no secret that they wanted Johnston out of his elected position.
Given that James Hardie executives have never been jailed for murdering tens of thousands of people with their products, and given that no immigration minister or official has been jailed for destroying the lives of numerous refugees and migrants, Johnston's nine-month jail sentence (plus a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years) was extremely harsh and extremely political.
Around 100 unionists from Melbourne, Geelong and the local area greeted Johnston when he was released from Loddon Prison in Castlemaine, including a delegation of unionists from Western Australia. The following is Johnston's speech to this crowd.
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I'd like to thank the people who visited me over the last nine months, who supported my family, my friends and sent cards and letters, because it does mean a lot when you're in jail to hear stuff from your friends, so for that, thanks very much.
There is a special mention for one of the people who sent me letters. For those who don't know, there are five Cuban comrades rotting in US jails. Their crime was fighting for their class like mine. They actually sent me letters. It took them some six months blueing with the US government just to be able to write a letter, so I want to place on record a special thanks to them.
I also want to acknowledge that there's a lot of good people in that jail, a lot of good blokes who shouldn't be in jail. Since this government in Victoria's been in, there's been something like a 25% increase in people going to jail. I want to thank all those guys in there. I certainly look forward to catching up with them in the future on the outside.
Comrades, I want to very quickly mention that Australia was founded on being a prison colony. And in the last 200-odd years, governments and bosses have been jailing people and jailing unionists and jailing progressives. I've done a lot of reading since I've been in jail. They put shearers in jail in the 1890s, seamen, Wobblies [International Workers of the World members] in 1916 because they opposed conscription, ironworkers, construction workers. You name it, they jailed them over the years. I now proudly join them as somebody who's been jailed for standing up for workers.
You read a bit in the press that Australia is a great country, the lucky country. But it's the lucky country because there are people like you who are out there fighting to make it the lucky country. It's not because of these rotten bosses and governments — all they're doing is trying to take things off us. Working people fought for the things that we enjoy now — the 36-hour week, long-service leave. And we've got to keep on fighting and winning those sorts of conditions and standards of living.
There's obviously a campaign coming up. The Howard government is determined that it is going to smash the trade union movement, smash student unions and any progressive organisations that want to see Australia as a just and fair country with good education, good health care and good wages and conditions for workers.
I relish the chance to be part of that campaign, to take on this government and drive it out of office because working people in this country deserve better and I'm sure we'll win that campaign.
I'm sure you'll all join with me in those famous words, "Dare to struggle, dare to win! If you don't fight, you lose!"
From Green Left Weekly, June 1, 2005.
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