BY CHRISTOPHER PERKINS
WOLLONGONG — "We got conned", South Coast Labor Council secretary Arthur Rorris told council delegates at a June 22 meeting to discuss the campaign against the New South Wales government's attempt to dismantle workers' compensation.
A union representative in talks between NSW unions and the Carr government, Rorris told delegates that seven weeks had been wasted, during which the trade union movement could have organised an industrial campaign against the changes.
Rorris also criticised the NSW Labor Council for failing to organise a general strike.
The ALP came in for heavy criticism from the floor, from union officials and delegates alike.
Rorris called June 19, the day Labor MPs crossed the picket line of state parliament, a black day for the ALP parliamentary party, but not for ALP-aligned trade unions: "we run this party, not them".
When a Fire Brigade Employees Union representative, however, told the meeting that his union had disaffiliated from the ALP, he was greeted with cheering and clapping. He added that the union would "most likely" reaffiliate when Bob Carr was no longer a member of the government.
Delegates from the Transport Workers Union then argued that the scab members of parliament should not receive a cent from the unions. Other delegates argued that Labor Council-affiliated unions should end all financial support to the NSW ALP until the fight had been won.
The overwhelming mood of the meeting was anger. Many delegates referred to the unsuccesful 1987 campaign against the ALP state government's attack on workers' compensation, which was led by Wollongong workers, arguing that only a statewide militant campaign would succeed. The construction union delegates argued for a 48-hour stoppage, some supporting an indefinite one.
The meeting resolved to build a stopwork on June 27 and attend the NSW Labor Council-organised Sky Channel broadcast on the workers' compensation dispute. This could include wider discussion between local unionists on the campaign.
The meeting also decided to call on the South Coast Labor Council to bypass the NSW Labor Council and link up directly with other regional labour councils to carry the campaign forward. A motion calling for an emergency special ALP state conference to discuss the crisis was also passed.
In Newcastle, Peter Robson reports, 3000 union delegates unanimously passed a resolution to stop work for 48 hours in protest against the attacks on workers' compensation. The delegates were attending a rally in Wharf Road on June 22.
Trade union speakers described the action by Carr's government as a "betrayal" and Labor members who crossed the picket lines outside state parliament were described as "scabs".
The secretary of the Newcastle and Central Coast branch of the Australian Workers' Union, Kevin Mahr, condemned the state Labor government for ignoring negotiations with trade unions on the nature of the changes to Workcover. He argued that, if the Labor Party continued to ignore the interests of working people, trade unions should disaffiliate from the ALP.
The motion to stop work for 48 hours starting on June 25 still motion still needs the support of the individual trade unions to take effect.
"This is as important as the struggle by the MUA, which was against the Liberal government", the Newcastle Trades Hall Council's Gary Kennedy told the rally, "and this is against the Labor government, which shows you how bad they've gotten".