BY MELANIE SJOBERG
As the sun slowly crept above city office buildings, hundreds of union activists and officials responded to an urgent call by the NSW Labor Council to blockade parliament on June 19 in a desperate attempt to prevent Labor Premier Bob Carr from forcing through harsh changes to workers' compensation.
Officials and activists from the Public Service Association kicked off the picket at midnight, festooning parliament with union flags and placards. But they were still not quick enough to block the architect of the changes, industrial relations minister John Della Bosca. Fearful of being stopped by the picket, Della Bosca chose to sleep overnight inside parliament.
The camaraderie and picket-line solidarity was boosted by the 1000-strong attendance, as the balmy winter day encouraged many to discard beanies and scarves. Chanting "Hands off workers comp" unified the solid representation from all unions and some union officials were seen linking arms in the front lines.
Industrial action was also imposed. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union allowed commuters to travel free for several days — a sure-fire way to generate widespread community support. The Health Research Employees Association also imposed bans on paperwork and charges for hospital incidentals. The police even banned the collection of fees for infringement notices.
Della Bosca announced the changes to Workcover in March, without any union consultation. This prompted a union campaign that included widespread publicity, picketing and lobbying of ALP politicians and the threat of a statewide stoppage on May 29.
Setting the tone for the union backlash, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union announced it was "extremely disappointed a Labor government of NSW intends to introduce a system that will undermine the rights and entitlements of injured workers".
The proposed changes to legislation will make it harder for injured workers to protect their income security. The new medical assessment guidelines are designed to make it more difficult to meet the 25% disability threshold necessary to sue an employer for negligence in common law. The changes also include binding medical assessments.
The CFMEU has pointed out that the changes to the system will allow administrative determination of all disputes, including common law damages, by bureaucrats appointed for three years, with no right to be heard, no right for evidence to be tested and no right of appeal to the Workers' Compensation Court.
There are also serious concerns that workers claiming psychological injuries will fail to achieve adequate compensation. This has harsh implications for teachers, who most frequently make such claims.
According to the Carr government the scheme needs revision because there is a $1 million a day blowout on liabilities that has already hit $2.2 billion.
The CFMEU, though, has condemned the government for blaming injured workers and their lawyers for this. Instead, the union claims the millions of dollars' shortfall in the managed fund is a result of employers not paying the relevant premiums. They claim up to 30% of bosses use dodgy sub-contracting and outright dishonesty.
Socialist Alliance spokesperson Dick Nichols said that the shortfall could easily be funded by the policy that Carr himself had mentioned in horror. "Carr feels it is unthinkable that the $2.2 billion deficit should come from the pockets of employers. But why not? They are responsible for the dangerous workplaces."
Despite a refusal by the government to withdraw the proposed bill, Della Bosca had agreed to make amendments that would incorporate a dispute resolution process drawn up by the Labor Council.
The unions believed that this would replace Della Bosca's proposals that denied an appeal process for disagreements, including over the benefits to be paid for injuries, but full details of the dispute resolution process remained sketchy.
Despite the still-hazy promises from Della Bosca, the Labor Council called off the threatened statewide strike on May 29. The CFMEU, however, went ahead with a 10,000-strong protest, claiming that health and safety at work was a fundamental issue for its members.
The Labor Council's illusions in behind-closed-doors handshakes with Labor ministers rapidly unraveled over the next few days. Rumours quickly spread that the Carr government would force through the legislation unchanged.
The Labor Council was left with little negotiating power — its parliamentary "mates" had already decided to put business benefits ahead of workers.
The blockade of parliament was therefore a desperate, last-minute throw of the dice. But Labor Council tactics on the blockade demonstrated that they continued to rely on the ALP, and even worse some Liberal-National politicians, to play by the rules.
The blockade allowed entry to non-Labor politicians, the media and police. Parliamentarians were not asked to declare complete opposition to the legislation, only to support deferral until further consultation could take place.
It has been revealed that the Labor Council also had a deal with police that ALP politicians could be brought through the rear entrance and they were even prepared for a few high-profile arrests. Such an agreement was not revealed to the blockaders at the time.
By early afternoon, the solidarity of the blockade was shattered when a forceful police wedge broke through to escort ALP politicians into parliament — senior ministers had deliberately decided to go in the front door under police escort to make a point.
This left only 17 ALP MPs outside and the Labor Council officials decided that they should also be allowed entry to participate in the Labor caucus.
The initiative was handed back to Carr, who rammed support for the changes through caucus, forced the reconvening of parliament, and then pushed the legislation through. It still awaits approval by the upper house.
Carr and Della Bosca showed contempt for injured workers and basic union principles by crossing a picket line and literally thumbing their noses at workers — and then led the charge in the media, proclaiming that the unions were holding the state to ransom and were threatening democracy.
But what sort of democracy allows the interests of business to be advanced by stomping on the basic entitlements of injured workers?
Socialist Alliance spokesperson Dick Nichols stated "Who asked the workers, i.e. the majority, if they wanted their injury payments cut? Which groups of workers gave their thumbs up to remove common law claims? How many MPs held meetings of their constituents on this critical issue?"
"Ordinary workers and most ALP members are fed up with Carr's arrogance to their concerns. After all this is an issue that affects all workers", said the alliance's co-convenor, Brian Webb, who warned, "Fare-free days and the blockade were a good start but the unions have to build support for statewide action if Carr is to be made to think again".
It was clear on the picket line that Labor MPs' actions have reinforced an already growing disenchantment and anger with the ALP. Many workers expressed the view that they have lost faith in what was supposed to be a workers' party.
Neil Hopkins, a maintenance worker for Sydney ferries and a member of the manufacturing union, told Green Left Weekly "I think the ALP has lost the plot and become such a right-wing party that they are no longer representatives of workers. Not just on this issue, but with schools and health as well."
Several construction workers complained angrily when news of the police attack came through, and one visibly tore up his ALP membership card to cheers.
The firefighters' union has already announced its disaffiliation from the ALP after an overwhelming majority of its members supported that motion at a mass meeting.
Paul Bastian, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's state secretary, has also publicly stated that the AMWU will consider the option. The printing division of that union will conduct a vote as early as next week.
The Canterbury-Bankstown branch of the NSW Teachers Federation passed a motion on June 21 calling on the federation's executive to discipline any politicians who are members of the NSWTF who crossed the picket. That would apply to education minister John Aquilina and local Bankstown member Tony Stewart.
ALP members in the officialdom of several unions have attempted to call an emergency ALP state conference to force a debate and save the party's rapidly-leaking credibility. The ALP executive has refused to either listen to such calls or bring forward its July 6 meeting.
Statewide union meetings have been called for June 27, through a Sky Channel broadcast. But union members will need to mobilise and demand more concerted industrial action to defend their right to workers' compensation. Nothing less than statewide strike action will be effective.
The deeper lesson from this experience, not lost on many, is that workers need a party that genuinely stands for their interests. Unions are not going to effectively fight for workers' rights so long as they are politically aligned with the ALP.
So long as that alignment remains union leaders will find themselves in a conflict of interest: loyalty to their members, or loyalty to their career path in the ALP. Outgoing Labor Council secretary Michael Costa, for example, was invisible during this debacle — presumably he was padding his seat in parliament, which he takes up in August.
A genuine militant unionism should be politically independent, so it can fight against whichever mainstream party holds power.
"The Socialist Alliance aims to be the working-class party that the ALP is not", said Dick Nichols. "We want to involve rank and file union activists in building a democratic organisation that campaigns around all aspects of worker and community rights. We stand for elected officers that are accountable and recallable and certainly that receive only the average worker's pay — not the profligate remuneration showered on the current politicians."