Incumbents worried by union militants
BY CHRIS SPINDLER
The incumbents of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) leadership are resorting to dirty tricks to stave off the challenge by the militant Workers First ticket.
Workers First's Craig Johnston is taking on incumbent Julius Roe for the position of Victorian state secretary of the union, while Darren Nelson is running against long-time national secretary Doug Cameron, who hasn't been challenged for many years. Workers First's Terry Bradley is also standing for a position as a metals division organiser.
The tactics of the Roe-Cameron group couldn't be more different from those of Workers First. While the Workers First campaign is getting out to the workshops and talking to members, Roe's has been an overwhelmingly negative (and well-funded) one, attempting to slur Workers First as "mindless militants".
Roe has also attempted to blame Workers First for job losses in the industry. While he holds the state secretary's position, Workers First dominates the Victorian branch of the union and Johnston is the metals division secretary.
One leaflet put out by Roe has tried to claim that 60,000 jobs have been lost in the Victorian industry in recent times; another claims 20,000 jobs. In fact, less than 2000 jobs have gone in the last two years.
Another Roe leaflet lists 10 factories that have shut down but fails to mention that several were closed before Workers First won the Victorian state elections in 1998.
Roe has also sought the credit for Campaign 2000, which is attempting to replace enterprise bargaining with industry-wide agreements, and other industrial campaigns he has had little to do with. This is despite his attempts to back away from a demand for a shorter working week, adopted as part of a log of claims by the largest mass meeting in the union for many years.
Workers First, meanwhile, is building on the gains made since its electoral victory in 1998. Its aim is to bring its commitment to a more democratic, financially accountable and
active and campaigning union to the national AMWU arena.
Members have been particularly taken by Workers First's platform for financial accountability. Currently, all money collected goes to the national coffers before being redistributed to the states. Workers First wants to see financial autonomy and responsibility given to the states and divisions of the union, rather than being beholden to the union's centralised bureaucracy.
Members are also keen to see further improvement in union services and to retain their say in the union. Workers First introduced branch meetings in Victoria after 1998; it also ended the practice of appointing organisers, making the positions elected instead. A victory for Roe threatens to bring a return to appointments and the incompetent organisers who so disillusioned members before 1998.
The AMWU ballot opens on April 28 and runs until May 19.