Red Report Back - Week Ending 16/10/2022
EcoSocialism Conference 2022
On October 9th, members of the Australian Communist Party and Community Union Defence League took part in the EcoSocialism Conference hosted at the Resistance Centre in Sydney by Socialist Alliance. This event was part of a nation-wide conference that hosted workshops and panels on a variety of current issues confronting the working class in Australia.
Our member spoke on a panel that sought to present EcoSocialist solutions to the housing crisis, discussing at length the experience the ACP and CUDL’s recent experiences battling police and state harassment at the Martin Place Street Kitchen. On the panel, we were joined by speakers from the South Australian Anti-Poverty Network, Action 4 Public Housing and an activist involved in the Die Linke housing campaign in Berlin.
ACP and CUDL speeches focused on the need to have an organised, principled and experienced leadership and committed members to mount a coordinated struggle against a well-resourced enemy. Indeed, were it not for our organisational structure and principled members, our fight could have very well ended very differently.
Since our foundation, our stance has been that the working class does not need the permission nor blessing of the capitalist state to organise for its own survival. We have refused to be shackled by the restraints that come with being a registered charity or holders of conditional permits that the capitalist class uses to stifle criticism and dissent. This has been embodied in how we organise our protests, campaigns and in this case, our Street Kitchen program.
The ACP and CUDL put into practice our belief that the working class must build alternative structures that breakdown capitalist monopoly. We educate, inspire and empower other members of the working class with the message that alternative forms of power are possible, and to extend this into all areas of the struggle against capitalism. We have shown this in our campaigns against the harassment of CUDL not just in Sydney, but in Adelaide and Melbourne too. In sharing our stories, we received a wealth of positive feedback from our comrades. We must always endeavour to share our knowledge and experiences so that the movement can build off of them and move forward. In this struggle, we are going to need solidarity and unity to achieve victory. To find out how you can get involved in the struggle today, visit: https://auscp.org.au/join-us/
Teachers Take on IRC
On the 12th of October, members of the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) held a rally outside the anti-worker Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) in Parramatta. The action was called by the Federation Executive in response to the NSW Government attempting to force a three-year award through the IRC.
The NSWTF is calling out the government for using the politicised IRC to force its anti-worker plans upon teachers. Indeed, Perrotet is opting to implement a real wage cut rather than commit to genuine negotiations with the union about uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads that have directly caused the growing teacher shortage crisis.
This move by the government perfectly encapsulates the playbook that is utilised to quash legalistic pursuits for workers’ rights. This is seen in them implementing a pay cap and a real wage cut to protect their own economic interests. Furthermore, there is a refusal to address the demands of teachers for action on unsustainable workloads. In doing so, they refuse to provide workers with the requirements necessary to survive in the occupation, ignoring the needs of teachers and the public.
As if to further hammer home the lesson, they utilise anti-worker institutions and legal frameworks specifically created by the state to silence working class dissent and prevent any industrial action that would harm profits. When even teachers, nurses and midwives are framed as terroristic thugs by the government, and the anti-worker media they collaborate with, the divisions become clear. There are those who support the struggle of workers for their right to a decent life, and there are their enemies.
Mining and Energy Union Members Win at Appin
Continuing a recent spate of action, Mining and Energy Union members at Appin have won a notable victory this week. MEU members at the Appin Lodge in the south of New South Wales have voted up a new agreement at South32. This has come after several weeks of strike action that saw members refusing to work in subpar conditions for subpar wages.
These workers won a guaranteed 15% pay raise for all employees, with the potential to increase this to 20%, as well as a $3,000 sign-on bonus for all operators. Furthermore, they have protected the minimum $5000 per week incentive scheme that management wished to scrap.
Additionally, workers won stretch opportunities for staff, double-time overtime rates and an improved public holiday volunteer process that benefits workers in the midst of the cost of living crisis. Despite delivering profits of $2.1 billion last year, management of the South32 Illawarra coal division previously refused to address workers concerns as runaway inflation brought real wage losses.
In standing up against this unfair hoarding of wealth, the members of the Appin Lodge have provided us all an example of the importance of solidarity and strength in unionism. As the Mining and Energy Union themselves said in summarising the dispute, “if you don't fight, you won't win.” With industrial action underway across many industries at the moment, we need to continually be reminded of the power workers have in withdrawing their labour and holding the capitalist class accountable. Today, we fight for better pay and wages. Tomorrow and the next day, we fight for working class control of the means of production. One day longer, one day stronger comrades.
Disrupt Land Forces Descends on Arms Convention
Last week, members and supporters of the anti-militarism activist groups Wage Peace and Disrupt Land Forces descended on the Brisbane Convention Centre in response to an arms convention being held at the site. The group conducted an array of actions to disrupt the convention, including blockading roads and entrances to the site, graffiti on the centre, and a variety of theatrical antics. Some examples of the latter were a homemade, pink ‘tank’ that was used to blockade an intersection, as well as a topless demonstration where several female activists confronted police lines with the slogan ‘boobs not bombs’ painted across their chests.
Additionally, Uncle Ned Hargraves from the Warlpiri nation led an action out the front of the NIOA Pastoral Company’s headquarters, who supply the weapons and ammunition that have been used in the murder of many First Nations people, including his nephew, Kumanjayi Walker. He voiced the demands of the community for a police ceasefire, as well as an end to these companies supplying the armed forces of the capitalist state. Unsurprisingly, no staff or members of the executive from the company came down to begin a dialogue with the group.
There was also a notable presence of West Papuan activists, who were joined by many supporters in singing protest songs out the front of the headquarters of Thales, a company that profits from the supply of military vehicles, weapons and assistance to the Indonesian regime, directly facilitating the ongoing genocide and colonisation in West Papua.
As with any action in Australia that isn’t planned in cooperation with the police, there were multiple arrests for charges as dubious as ‘trespass’ on a public footpath. Nevertheless, the groups framed the overall outcome as a victory, having caused the cancellation of two VIP presentations, reduced the number of participants overall and prompted a massive increase in cops and security needed at the site.
As communists, we recognise the commitment of these activists in standing up against the imperialist war machine. However, we also have a duty to engage in good-faith criticisms of their approach. If we confine ourselves to a single-issue approach when dealing with issues that are rooted in broader, systemic foundations, then it is a waste of both time and energy.
Issues that are a result of capitalism can only be addressed by targeting all aspects of capitalism. Furthermore, history has repeatedly shown us that capitalism will employ any and all means necessary to crush any threat to its power and profit. A handful of performative activists will not be able to address this. We need a party and movement that is prepared to face the onslaught that comes in the struggle, and that is willing to unite the working class to overcome it. There will be no peace so long as capitalism remains standing.