CFMEU elections
I feel I must comment on an article in GLW of Sept 4th, by Jorge Jorquera titled "Political Battle inside WA CFMEU". Firstly the way you have presented this piece would have done credit to the major dailies of the right wing press. The headline itself suggests right vs left, us against them, good against evil or as Bill Ethell put it in one of his "Shit Sheets" (Jorquera's description), "The Forces of Darkness". Is reason enough to label them this way because they have the gall to oppose Bill Ethell. What is this, Secretary for life?
Secondly the photo of Bill Ethell must be between ten to twenty years old, who supplied you with this or is this the photo and I know you have many, that makes Bill Ethell look what a left Trade Union Official is perceived to be. The current clean shaven Bill is a "Suit", which I doubt any Trade Unionist today has any problems with.
Next comes the photo of the Old Emu Brewery protest. Is this Bill Ethell's only claim to fame after all these years as a Trade Union Official and/or is this something that you think that GLW readers can empathise with.
So even before you read the article you have "The Champion of the workers and Aborigines, the bearded left wing unionist being attacked by the Right" or am I being too cynical.
As for the article itself there is little I could agree with and lots of it to ridiculous for comment. There is one thing that mystifies me maybe Jorquera could explain, he says that the BLF had signed 180 EBAs to the CFMEU's 20, "but it was misleading to suggest that the former were more successful because the CFMEU gains more through industry wide negotiations". What are these negotiations, individual work place agreements? (what the bosses want) if the negotiations are better than EBAs why bother with the 20 that they signed.
I am a subscriber to GLW, a rank and file member of the BLF, this biased, unbalanced article has destroyed my faith in the credibility in GLW, you must allow the other parties a right of reply, Jorge Jorquera is obviously a "MATE" of Bill Ethell's as his report was completely one sided he has not spoken or contacted the other parties, he says "they do not seem to be interested in workers other concerns etc". Maybe they do not seem worth talking to because they intend to run against Jorge's "MATE" Bill.
I feel if Jorge is allowed to do a bit of head kicking, so do I, at the moment I'm unemployed, which is more often than not. I can assure Jorge that most of the rank and file members of all construction unions I talk to will be glad to see the back of bill because he is an embarrassment and a hindrance to progressive unionism in this state and probably in Australia. Roll on the election and let the rank and file have their say.
As for the WA branch of the Democratic Socialist Party I would be very concerned about having Jorge Jorquera as secretary, obviously cronyism comes before ethics and values. Please print this biased, unbalanced letter in its entirety.
I have just heard that Bill Ethell is distributing photocopies of this article on Perth & Metro building sites. Does the printing of these allegations & propaganda in GLW legitimise them? (I read it in GLW it must be true) should the opponents regard it as a "shit sheet"?
Gareth Davies
Maylands WA
Qld Greens
In GLW #240 Dave Riley had an article addressing the question of the Qld Greens. It is good to see your paper take up what is a matter of some urgency for the Left here in Qld.
However you began your analysis with a side swipe at Neighborhood News a publication I write for. You alleged that we were "always keen to print Green Party scuttle butt".
We do not print "scuttle butt", dear comrade. We are engaged in the project of trying to build up the socialist movement in Brisbane. I grant though that we have been extremely critical at the Green Party crossing class lines and calling for a vote for the National Party, appearing on a National Party platform and attempting to convince the people of Queensland that the National Party had "moved to the Centre".
You say that there is no greater crime than this in the West End. Speaking as one revolutionary communist to another I would have thought that there would be no greater crime than this even beyond West End.
But my major objection to your article is that you seem unaware of your own party's analysis of the political trajectory of the Greens. Take a look at Lisa Mcdonald's excellent pamphlet on this very issue.
For me the facts are that the Queensland Greens crossed class lines. They have saddled us with a vicious racist, right-wing anti-environment govt. But you even pose the question whether the Greens are "suckers or sinners".
You actually say "maybe they are deserving of our sympathy for being so naive" i.e. believing what the National Party promised them.
I have no sympathy for Hutton when he whines about being betrayed by the National Party. I will die not ever knowing what it is means to be betrayed by the likes of Borbidge. If a cockroach swarms over my food, is it betraying me? When the National Party attack the working-class is it betraying them? Of course not. Such a proposition only makes sense to a liberal. I scorn Hutton's mealy mouthed moderate politics. And I would have expected that you too as a Marxist would have a similar attitude.
All Hutton's recent statements show that he is no longer just an ex-revolutionary. He is very much on the move into the anti-revolutionary camp.
Alas "more unkind words" as you put it. But being a revolutionary sometimes requires one to be honest and above board in exposing frauds, phonies, compromisers and yes — traitors.
Gary Maclennan
School of Media & Journalism QUT
Brisbane
Unemployment
It appears to me that the only solution is a shorter working week.
It's not as if there is not plenty to be done in, say, more hospitals, schools, universities and above all housing.
With modern technology they can be done so much more quickly that it seems the only sensible way is the shorter working week and adjustment in the taxation system so that no one will be worse off.
Think if most of the unemployed could get work in something that interested them and improved the quality of life all round what happiness it could bring all round.
I understand that we need to have say five per cent not always working so that if the plumber, electrician or clerk retired or died there was always somebody to go into the job.
After all we only live once it would be fine to make life happy for everyone as fas as possible.
Jean Hale
Balmain NSW
Forests
In a desperate attempt to undermine implementation of agreed conservation policies, the Forest Products Association and the Forestry Division of the CFMEU are irresponsibly misleading the public.
Their repeated use of inflated employment figures for the native forest timber industry, and overstatement of the potential socioeconomic impacts of the Government's forest policy, create unnecessary fears in rural communities.
Claims of jobs losses of 13,000 and 20,000 have been made in newspaper advertisements in recent days. Yet The Economic Impact of the NSW Timber Industry, a report commissioned by government agencies, cites 1993/94 direct employment in native forest milling, chipping and value adding as 3072, with a further 1006 jobs in logging and hauling.
Subtract the number of workers on private land or outside regions affected by forest negotiations, make allowance for those who've since left the industry, and it is clear that less than 3000 workers are reliant on logging the public native forests currently under consideration.
Far fewer will be disadvantaged by the Carr Government delivering on its promise to establish a world class forest reserve system; for those who are, $120 million is available to help minimise negative impacts and generate sustainable alternative jobs.
Mark Blecher
Resource and Conservation Assessment Council
Wyndham NSW
India and the CTBT
Wayne Hall accuses me of supporting India's nuclear program (Green Left #247) saying that "nothing is to be gained from siding with any nuclear power, 'third world' or otherwise". In fact my article on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty negotiations (Green Left #243) pointed out that it is the United States — not India — which was the cause of the stalemated CTBT negotiations, and now the farcical end result which will not make the world a safer place in which to live.
The US, with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, intends to continue its nuclear proliferation program using some of the most advanced computer technology available. It has no intention of agreeing to a treaty which commits it to eliminate its nuclear capability. Abundant evidence, some of which I cited in the article, attest to this.
I elaborated on India's arguments for why it would not sign the CTBT because it went straight to the heart of the matter: in order to maintain its military and economic hegemony imperialism insists on one rule for itself and another for the Third World. India (and other Third World countries such as Zimbabwe) correctly pointed to the glaring hypocrisy in the US' position.
This does not mean that I support India — or any country for that matter — having nuclear capability.
Pip Hinman
Sydney
East Timor and Indonesia
The ACT Social Education Association held an Expo at the O'Connell Education Centre on September 14 to show case more than 30 facilities (eg, Australian National Gallery, Murray Darling Commission) and to provide an opportunity for teachers, site managers and education officers to share information and experiences.
On behalf of the East Timor Relief Association (ETRA) I contacted the Expo organisers two weeks earlier asking permission to exhibit educational materials. One week and three answer machine messages later, we got permission from Christine Owen to go ahead.
On Friday September 13 at 4.30pm, she phoned me to ask us "to graciously withdraw" because the Indonesian embassy had threatened to pull out from the Expo if we were present. I declined.
At the Expo Christine Owen accused me of causing her a problem; the Indonesians, true to their threat, had removed their exhibit. When I argued that we had no problem with the expression of diverse opinions and would not be fazed by the Indonesians exhibiting, she claimed I was "only representing an organisation and was not a teacher"! I pointed out that I was both a teacher and a member of ETRA and, in any case, being a teacher was not a qualification for participating and had she checked the credentials of the Indonesians? Who or what were they representing?
It is clear that wherever the voice of East Timor is to be heard the Indonesian embassy will also be there trying to strangle it by fair means or foul. This happened in April, when the National Folk Festival organisers protected Indonesian sensitivities by banning ETRA's stall from the venue even though other good causes (Free Tibet) were represented.
While it is easy to understand Indonesian embarrassment and discomfort over an ETRA stall it is much less easy to figure out the motivation of Folk Festival and Expo organisers. It is incredible to think that, given the choice, the ACT Social Education Association chose the Indonesian embassy rather than ourselves.
This raises important questions about the nature of social education teaching. If its practitioners operate only on the level of theory and fail to meet the challenge of practice, then our children and our society are being disgustingly short changed.
Gareth Smith
O'Connor ACT
[Edited for length.]