To lobby or not to lobby? Fortunately for the Australian union movement our forebears in the union leaderships didn't spend much time trying to answer this question. Campaigns were more direct and more successful than today's so-called strategies of "boxing smart" and "keeping your powder dry".
The government has its act together, with a clear plan and tight timeframe for implementing new industrial laws that pretty much just rename most parts of Work Choices and further strips back awards under union control.
The plan includes moving the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) into the new industrial relations department called Fair Work Australia (FWA) in 2010.
The timeframe for FWA is tied in with the timing of the new IR system. The draft goes to the invite-only joint Committee on Industrial Legislation on October 7-17. The federal ALP caucus will discuss it on October 20 and finally on November 10. Following the Christmas and New Year break, and the usual slow start to the year, the legislation will go before parliament and a Senate committee process, ready to be law by the end of 2009.
In contrast to this well thought-out plan we have the unions' response, which seems to consist solely of lobbying politicians and getting the numbers to convince PM Kevin Rudd and IR minister Julia Gillard that the ABCC laws are no good and must go.
Last week, the federal ALP caucus was set to hear a motion that would have in effect forced the government to amend the Building Improvement Act and abolish the extensive powers of the ABCC.
However, at the 11th hour the motion was withdrawn from caucus debate and replaced with yet another committee to review the new IR laws.
Everyone but the most dim-witted unionist can see that the government is stalling for the recommendations from the Justice Wilcox review — examining options for a building industry "watchdog" — due early next year. The government hopes for recommendations that put tighter controls on cohesive powers or remove them while still maintaining the Building Improvement Act for the new inspectors to use when FWA is set up.
Essentially this would mean little change for construction workers, but the government would be hoping for an easy sell to the right-wing unions for their support.
So far, the union movement has not managed to change the Labor government's plans for industrial relations or the ABCC. The bosses can see this and are becoming increasingly confident as a result.
In the meantime, a trade unionist is being lined up for a potential jail sentence for refusing to attend an ABCC interview. The next court hearing for Noel Washington has been moved from September 30 to October 14. As Green Left Weekly goes to print it is unclear whether the court hearing will be in Melbourne or Geelong.
Unless there is a serious change in tactics in the way we, the union movement, relate to the government on this critical issue, I see the government's current plan to continue the ABCC — albeit under a new name with slightly amended powers after 2010 — succeeding.
As Washington is due in court at the beginning of December we should be gearing up workers for industrial action now and saving up for a lot of down time in the lead-up to Christmas: no boss in the building industry should be expecting to finish a project before Christmas. Other industries should be putting their employers on notice that the usual Christmas rush could turn into a standstill.
Now that the ALP caucus has shown its colours on the question of the ABCC, the time for lobbying is over. Clearly employers have the government's ear, so let's take up the industrial fight to the employers and let them do the lobbying, begging the politicians to change the law.
It has always worked in the past and, last time I checked, the industrial relationships under capitalism haven't changed since our forebears won the first lot of workers' rights. So why change now into a bunch of professional lobbyists and dinner invitees?
Workers deserve more from our leadership and I'm sure anyone facing jail for doing their jobs would agree that more can be done. It must be done now, not on the government's timetable.