[The following call to action was issued by Public Servants for Refugees, a network initiated by Andrew Hall, a Canberra public servant. Since then, Public Servants for Refugees networks have spread from the ACT to NSW and Victoria. The networks can help provide publicity and ideas for pro-refugee activities in the workplace. To join, or for more information, contact Hall at <andrew-hall@bigpond.com> or by phoning 0438 624 744.]
The proposal to take action to shame Prime Minister John Howard one year after the Tampa crisis provides an opportunity to declare our outrage in workplaces across the nation at the federal government's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
The idea is to get as many people as possible to wear black armbands on the day, and so declare opposition to the government's racist policies. It can be used to set up refugee groups on many more workplaces and create an even bigger network of people campaigning for the humane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
Public Servants for Refugees urges you to join us and use Tampa Day to establish refugee solidarity groups in your workplace. Initiated in Canberra, we are now a rapidly expanding network of public servants from numerous government agencies. We have been so successful that we've been warned by immigration minister Philip Ruddock not to be political, while he uses the navy, armed forces and other public servants to carry out his own political dirty work!
The past months of activity show it is possible to beat the government back. More and more Australians of diverse political persuasions believe mandatory detention is racist and inhumane — a means for the government to scapegoat the weakest and most vulnerable for its own political advantage.
More and more Australians don't believe the hype about our nation facing a serious threat to its security from some of the world's poorest and most persecuted human beings.
The June 22-23 World Refugee Day rallies around the country were supported by the Public Service Association in NSW, the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union, the Independent Education Union, and Australian Nurses Federation as well as other unions.
Last year, the ACT branch of the Community and Public Sector Union endorsed a call for a royal commission into the government's treatment of asylum seekers as a means for public servants to speak the truth without being victimised. The call for a royal commission < http://www.refugee-royal-A HREF="mailto:commission.org"><commission.org> was echoed by the majority of delegates at the recent Queensland state ALP conference.
Some teachers and students have even gone further, with schools being declared "Ruddock-free zones", inspired by the example of Woollahra Public School in Sydney. Meetings of students and teachers are being held at Fort Street in Sydney and many other schools. Numerous city councils are also declaring themselves "refugee safe havens". So far, councils in Melbourne, Darebin, Hume, Monash, Brimbank, Boroondara, Geelong, Port Phillip, Port Adelaide-Enfield, Fremantle and Brisbane have committed themselves "to welcoming refugees to their community, upholding the human rights of refugees, demonstrating compassion to refugees and enhancing cultural and religious diversity in our community".
In this spirit, we urge trade unionists across Australia to participate in the Shame Howard on Tampa Day action on August 26, to wear black arm-bands and to encourage work mates to publicly declare opposition to the government's refugee policies.
From Green Left Weekly, July 17, 2002.
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