Red Report Back - Week Ending 01/05/2022
Trash Builds Amidst Garbo Strikes
A growing escalation in conflicts between garbage workers and local councils has perfectly captured the issue of casualisation in the workplace. In Brunswick, members of the Australian Services Union implemented a ban on street cleaning and litter pick up, which has seen rubbish build across the Moreland City Council area.
The union action came in response to the Council’s refusal to implement wage increases that were above the rate of inflation in their enterprise bargaining. This means that workers would effectively be left worse off as inflation climbs.
Similarly, in Sydney, TWU members at Cleanaway Peakhurst in the Randwick Council area have taken action over the company’s refusal to meet workers’ demands. After months of negotiations where members have attempted to protect their previously enshrined rights, entitlements and protections, members have now drawn the line. The TWU is supporting its workers as they take a stand against the shameful conditions, bullying and disrespect they have experienced at the hands of Cleanaway.
The clash between the council workers and members of the ASU in Brunswick, and the Cleanaway workers and members of the TWU in Randwick highlights the growing prevalence of casualisation in formerly secure jobs. Workers are losing benefits, job security and safe conditions as their industries become privatised and are contracted away. We must support workers who resist this process, as well as supporting those who fall victim to it in their fight to maintain the rights their forebears have won. Up the garbos! Hold the trash at the top accountable!
No Deal at FedEx
A remarkable victory in the never-ending fight that pits employers against the health and safety of workers has occurred in Australia this week. Members of the Transport Workers’ Union and their Health and Safety Representatives won a hard fought battle against FedEx over an unjust constitution that attacked workers’ health and safety rights.
The constitution FedEx put forward would have eroded the already limited rights, powers and functions that HSR’s are guaranteed in the Australian workplace. The company was seeking to overrule these powers so that they would not have to consult workers when introducing processes and conditions that undermined safety on the job.
The lesson for Australian workers in the globalised era is that while many of our rights in the workplace have been eroded by governments for decades, we can still fight against the bosses. With what limited weapons we have in our arsenal, be it through HSR’s or consultation clauses, we can call out the bullshit that employers try to sneak through. Remain vigilant, and dare to struggle like these comrades at the TWU have.
Teachers Say 'You Can't Con Us, Dom!'
As tensions rise in the education profession, teachers made their stance clear to the New South Wales Government. More than 40 teachers staged a walkout of Marsden High School ahead of a visit by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. The teachers walked off the job to counter Perrottet’s petty point-scoring and photo opportunities, holding signs adorned with the New South Wales Teachers’ Federation slogans of ‘more than thanks’.
In response to unmanageable workloads and low wages which the government has refused to address, the NSWTF has authorised teaching staff to walk off school grounds if a NSW government MP enters them, as well as implementing a ban on new Department of Education policies. The action comes ahead of their next 24 hour strike to be held on Wednesday the 4th of May.
In a new low even for the Liberals, the Department of Education is trying to prevent the circulation of a letter explaining the reasons for the action that the Teachers’ Federation has sent out. We stand in solidarity with these important workers, and condemn the shamelessness and pettiness of the NSW government in their handling of the situation. To all the teachers out there, stay staunch, stay angry.
The Balloon Ready to Burst
This week, the news has been littered with headlines about inflation and the cost of living. We have been bombarded with statistics and numbers that highlight how serious the cost of living has grown, while wages have stagnated.
Inflation has surged higher than expected, jumping by 2.1% in the March quarter of this year alone. Veggies, non-alcoholic drinks, fruit, beef and items like toilet paper are all up by more than 5%. We are told that the price of some university courses are set to rise by 113%.
Yet, the ruling class stooges in parliament that claim to look out for our wellbeing give us nothing but excuses and half-assed plans. Rather than creating policies that will address these issues, or reallocating the funds necessary to address it, these politicians abandon individual citizens to suffer from policy outcomes.
Last year, inflation grew 3.5%, while wages only grew 2.3% in the same period. The gap continues to grow for working class people, with everyday items becoming more and more out of reach. We work harder, and receive less for it. We must realise that the major parties only offer band aid solutions and refuse to solve the root cause of the issue. The minor parties will either make scapegoats with racist, ignorant views, or on the other end of the spectrum flood us with ideals that they are unwilling to follow up on.
If working people want their voices to be heard, they must do it without relying on careerists or opportunists. We must come together and utilise our unions, our community groups, our sporting clubs and wherever else we are involved to unite and fight for our interests.
May Day
On the weekend of Sunday the 1st of May, the International Workers’ Day, unionists and working class people from across Australia came together to commemorate their most sacred day in the calendar. It is interesting to look at how far the day has come, from its fight for the 8 hour day, to demands for peace and socialism. But what would the militant workers of the past think if they could see what’s become of our class in 2022?
Would they be proud that the organisations that were meant to be independent warriors of the working class have fallen victim to electoral fetishism? Would they weep at the casualisation of the workforce into longer hours, unsafe conditions and insecurity that has taken away the lives and health of so many workers? Would they laugh at the shameless, brazen opportunism that politicians seize upon when they take to the stage and claim to represent the interests of those they have sold out time and time again?
Who knows what our staunch predecessors in the working class would make of these conditions. And, for what it’s worth, who cares. They had their time to hold their unions, leaders, communities and comrades accountable. Now it is ours. If we are to let parasite employers, thug cops, shonky politicians and backstabbing bureaucrats run our movement into the ground, it is on us. Now is our time to dare, now is our time to struggle. The world is on our shoulders, as it was on theirs before us. Seize the time comrades. Happy May 1st.