By Steve Rogers
CANBERRA — One hundred and twenty thousand members of the Public Sector Union will be sent ballot papers in the coming week in a national election which is crucial for the union's future. For the first time, the incumbents are facing a serious contest.
The incumbent ticket, the Wendy Caird and Peter Robson Team, is standing on its record. Contesting the major positions against it is PSU National Challenge, which is criticising the incumbents for poor defence of jobs and conditions, lack of democracy in the union and weak union administration.
Major differences exist between the groups, with the Caird and Robson Team supporting agency-based enterprise bargaining and the new cut-rate trainee wages.
While the incumbents face widespread membership opposition, their control of most union resources makes any challenge difficult. In May, for example, for the third month in a row PSU members have received their union journal bearing the prominently displayed photos of incumbent candidates for all full-time positions.
Despite limited funds, PSU National Challenge has published a four-page broadsheet which has been sent to all PSU members, along with four policy leaflets and a poster. While the Caird and Robson Team has produced leaflets and a poster, it has yet to produce any policy information.
The latest contribution to the debate has been an unsigned leaflet posted to delegates and members in Canberra titled "The Hidden Challenge", which concludes "Please consider carefully the implications of having a radical and extreme political organisation running the PSU nationally when you fill out your ballot paper in the forthcoming elections".
ACT branch secretary Cath Garvan produced a response to this on May 12. She pointed out that while she was not a member of a political organisation, "any PSU member has the right to support PSU Challenge if they choose.
"Members also have the right to participate fully in the activities of the union, whether they are a member of any organisation, political or otherwise. This is an undeniable right of democracy within our union and within Australian society. Those that seek to undermine this right are a threat to the democratic functioning of the PSU and the rights of PSU members."