BY BEN COLLINS
MELBOURNE — About 1000 trade unionists met on April 9 to protest against the findings of the royal commission into the building industry and to plan the next steps in the campaign to defend unions from federal government attacks. Representatives of every union affiliated to the Victorian Trades Hall Council were present at the meeting.
John Cummins, speaking in his capacity as co-convener of Workers Against the War, opened the meeting and received solid applause when he called for the war on Iraq to be stopped and Australian troops brought home.
Speakers described the machinations of the royal commission and condemned its findings. Greg Combet from the ACTU reported that the 10-page report from the Office of the Employment Advocate, which the government originally used to instigate the royal commission, did not have any of its claims substantiated by the commission. An example of the commission's anti-union bias is the fact that only two out of its 392 findings relate to safety.
The royal commission's recommendations include a ban on pattern bargaining. Since large building sites may have as many as 100 employers and sub-contractors operating on them, workers may find themselves doing exactly the same jobs as other workers on site, but with different rates of pay.
The federal government is setting up an "interim task force" to implement the commission's recommendations, and aims to set up an "Australian Building and Construction Commission", which the unions point out will "have the coercive powers of a standing 'criminal investigative authority'". Any breaches by unions, however technical, of industrial relations law may result in massive fines or jail terms.
Combet noted that the implementation of the royal commission's recommendations require the passing of the Building Industry Improvement Act by federal parliament. Combet urged unions to try to convince non-government parties in the Senate to block the bill.
Martin Kingham, state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), added that unions "need to go beyond that" by using "industry- and community-wide lobbying", which he said would ultimately bring more pressure to bear on the Senate.
The meeting resolved unanimously to open the campaign by supporting a rally for Kingham, who is facing contempt of court charges arising from the commission, and to rally on May Day.
Rank and file unionists were not afraid to add their comments during discussion on the final motion. Geelong CFMEU organiser Brendan Murphy demanded that the union movement also take up the case of Craig Johnston, former secretary of the Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), who could be imprisoned on charges related to alleged crimes on a picket line.
Johnston himself demanded an undertaking from AMWU secretary Dave Oliver that AMWU officials not appear in court against their own members.
CFMEU activist Tim Gooden, also from Geelong, requested that the unions begin working on a "Plan B", as the last time unions embarked on a Senate lobbying campaign, "we ended up with the Workplace Relations Act!".
From Green Left Weekly, April 16, 2003.
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