BY MARCE CAMERON
BRISBANE — On August 19, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union organiser Maggie May came to work and found a fax on her chair from AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron telling her that she would no longer be working for the union.
May, who was employed by the Queensland branch of the AMWU for two years as part of the National Organising Unit, was advised by Cameron in his letter that she should contact AMWU state secretary Dave Harrison to make arrangements for her departure. "It's the rudest termination [of employment] I've heard about for a long time", May told Green Left Weekly.
In a letter sent to May on July 10, Harrison alleged that she had failed to respect the authority of the state executive on three occasions. He warned her that, "if there are any further incidents of misconduct or misbehaviour, this warning will be relied upon and I will refer such to the National Secretary with an appropriate recommendation for serious disciplinary action including the possibility of termination of employment".
At a meeting of the AMWU state council on June 12, May spoke against a resolution supported by Harrison that the union give "unconditional support" to the winner of the federal ALP caucus ballot for parliamentary leader that was contested by Simon Crean and Kim Beazley. May believed this would contradict AMWU policy, which is to back political parties and candidates that support the aims and policies of the union.
The second incident referred to in Harrison's letter occurred at an AMWU state council meeting on March 6, attended by federal ALP MP Wayne Swan. May, who is the secretary of the Milchelton branch of the ALP and a member of the group Labor for Refugees, challenged Swan on Labor's refugee policy. For this, Harrison accused her of being "rude" to a guest of the state council, a "charge" which May denies. Harrison also cited a meeting at which May spoke against a motion requesting fortnightly membership reports from her organising unit, which May considered to be an unnecessary demand.
May believes the real reason she was sacked is "because I'm not afraid to speak out" and because of the success of her unit in empowering union members to have a real say in the union. "Our real mission was to create union activism on the shop floor, and I think we've been extremely successful in this. What we've come to realise is that the state executive don't want that type of activism so they've done their best to sabotage our efforts."
In 2002, the national AMWU leadership carried out a witch-hunt against AMWU officials who didn't demonstrate blind obedience to every decision of the Cameron leadership. Two officials in Victoria, one in Tasmania and one in Queensland were sacked. In addition, the national leadership changed union rules to reduce the independence of state branches.
"Since the national office went on the attack against [the] Workers First [leadership of the Victorian branch] in 2002, there has been no real support for the National Organising Unit in Queensland from the state branch or the national office. In the past year they've tried to restrict our activity to just signing people up to the union. The state secretary has been known to say that the membership don't want a campaigning union, but a union that delivers services. Our experience is that union members want a union that encourages their involvement and which is prepared to stand up to the bosses", said May.
May was one of two union officials who attended a public meeting organised by the Socialist Alliance in 2002 which was addressed by Craig Johnston, who was then the Victorian secretary of the AMWU.
From Green Left Weekly, August 27, 2003.
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