Red Report Back – Week Ending 02/10/2022

PLASTERBOARD WORKERS PICKET AFTER LOCKOUT

Over the last two weeks, members of the Construction, Forestry, Manufacturing, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) have been holding the line in a picket outside of the factory of plasterboard manufacturer, Knauf. The dispute came about in response to the refusal of bosses to engage in discussions with workers about safe working conditions, casualisation and pay rises, as inflation attacks workers across the country. 

Following the rejection of a weak offer put forward by Knauf, workers engaged in work bans and stop-work actions to pressure management to listen to worker demands. Despite amassing record profits amidst the ongoing construction boom, management have refused to engage with the workers, shutting down the site and locking out the workforce without pay. In response, union members called an indefinite strike and launched a picket of the site. 

The picket has drawn mass support from different sections of the working class. Supportive unions include: the Electrical Trades Union, the Plumbers and Pipe Trades Employees Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, Rail Tram and Bus Union and many more. Additionally, members of the Australian Communist Party and Community Union Defence League have maintained a food and beverage station to serve the workers as the strike hits their pockets and homes. 

Paired with these external expressions of solidarity is the unity and strength among the 70 odd workers locked out of the plant. It was these workers who unanimously voted for protected industrial action earlier in the year, and refused to bow down to pressure from the bosses to casualise the workforce and lower their wages. Subjected to unsafe conditions with carcinogenic toxins, offered pay decreases, and facing the casualisation of labour, this unionised workforce has shown all Australian workers that is possible to stand up together and say “No!”

As one worker succinctly put it “The longer we stay out, the stronger we get!” Indeed, as we have learnt in the past, solidarity is forged in the flames of resistance. Strikes are a struggle that links the organised elements of the working class with the broader struggle against the forces of capital. In these fights, workers have it reinforced to them that behind the bosses is a legal and industrial relations system that is purpose-built for the oppression of workers. So we say to the striking unionists of Knauf – stay strong, hold fast, and don’t accept the crumbs offered to you by the ruling class and their apologists. One day longer, one day stronger, comrades. 

The picket is being held daily at 672 Lorimer Street, Port Melbourne from 6am to 2pm daily.

Those seeking to donate to the workers strike fund can do so here:

https://knauf-lockout-fund.raisely.com

RTBU STREAMS AHEAD TOWARDS OPAL SHUTDOWN

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) in New South Wales has steamed ahead with its latest industrial action plans this week, putting a ballot out to members to vote on their next stage of actions. Following the government threatening RTBU members with heavy penalties if they turned off Opal machines to protest unsafe conditions and attacks by the Perrottet government, the RTBU is craftily working to hit the bosses where it hurts. 

Despite the best efforts of despised thug, Transport Minister David Elliot, to prevent the action going ahead, the RTBU went to the Fair Work Commission to get a Protected Action Ballot Order. This was done so that members could vote to endorse the union switching off all Opal card gates at train stations across Sydney’s rail network. 

It’s bad enough that workers, subject to stagnating wages and unsafe conditions that threaten the public, are only legally allowed to take industrial action during enterprise bargaining periods, once every few years. On top of that, unions need to ask capitalist institutions for permission to put votes to their own members – even when those members already voted for industrial action!

In this anti-worker landscape, there are many difficulties for a union to overcome. They must educate their membership on the need for industrial action and the importance of fighting for conditions. They must also engage delegates and rank-and-file members to give them practical experience in fighting the bosses and building solidarity. And, even if a union is able to achieve this, one must beg and grovel in the pro-boss institutions of the capitalist state, such as the Fair Work Commission and Industrial Relations Commission, to get approval to take action that has already been democratically endorsed by workers. Failure to do so leads to cripplingly legal sanctions.

Thankfully, the RTBU has been able to jump through the hoops thus far in this battle against the NSW Liberal government. But with every victory workers gain, the government sees leaks in its anti-worker system that it will then plug with another new law, another new technicality, and another new set of penalties. If workers remain reliant on the legal systems and institutions of the capitalist state to achieve industrial justice, then they will be very disappointed. Dare to struggle. Dare to win. 

NURSES AND MIDWIVES SLAPPED WITH FINES FOR SAFETY FIGHT

Perfectly representing the constraints of Australia’s anti-worker industrial relations legislation is the recent news that the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) has been fined $25,000 for holding strikes to demand safe staff-to-patient ratios. On March 31st of this year, members of the NSWNMA walked off the job to demand an end to the government’s pay freeze and the introduction of mandated nurse-to-patient ratios for staff and public safety. 

Yet, six days before the action went ahead, the Industrial Relations Commission ordered the NSWNMA to cease organising and encouraging the strike. Despite these threats from the capitalist state, the union pushed on, stating to members that it was “time to hold strong, continue the fight and attend your rally as planned”. For daring to stand up for the interests of their industry and the wellbeing of the public as a whole, these vital, frontline workers, and the union that represents them, were attacked by the NSW Supreme Court for acting “in blatant and deliberate defiance” of the Commission’s orders. 

How dare workers not bow down to the capitalist state so that it may save money and political capital as it faces an election! How dare healthcare workers draw a line in the sand to protect their professional colleagues and comrades, as well as the wellbeing of the public they serve every day! In defying the strictures of the state’s fundamentally broken industrial relations system, the NSWNMA have shown us all the importance of militant unionism, and broader working class solidarity. May they hold the line as more half-measures and piecemeal conciliations are offered to them in the lead up to the elections. This is not a party problem. It is a system problem. 

ROBBED AT SEA - SEAFARER’S PURSUE MILLIONS IN STOLEN WAGES

A new report has revealed the shameful extent of wage theft committed against seafarers across the Australian supply chain, with workers up in arms over the extent of the crime. The Robbed at Sea report by the Australian Institute’s Centre for Future Work has brought the misconduct to light after analysing ten years’ data from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) collected across Australian ports.

The ITF found that over 70% of the ships carrying cargo in and out of Australia failed to meet minimum international standards for wage payment, with recovery orders over this period totalling $38 million. 

The National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) summarized the issue clearly, stating “International shipping companies make eye watering profits off the back of exploiting, invisible and often vulnerable workers aboard ships registered under Flag of Convenience arrangements who fail to enforce minimum labour standards “

These seafarers are often from low-wage developing countries, with limited power to resist exploitation by ship owners and contractors. The capitalist class in the seafaring industry exploits these vulnerable workers through several loopholes, allowing themselves to reap super profits as a result. The ITF’s Australian Coordinator, Ian Bray, also highlighted how this wage theft is inherently tied into wider exploitation, saying that “Ripping off workers’ wages is usually indicative of broader issues and greater abuses. If a boss is willing to systematically steal their crews’ wages, you can be sure there are other rorts going on.”

With our reliance on imports and exports to fuel our economy as an island nation, one can understand why the capitalist class, and the governments that serve them, would be unwilling to address these issues impacting thousands of workers. Were these issues to be addressed in a fair way that prevented exploitation in the industry, business owners would lose some of the mega-profits they steal from workers daily. While much of the blame has been placed on the recently ousted Liberal government, the loopholes in the Fair Work Regulations 2009 that facilitates the exploitation of these seafarers were both written and passed by the Australian Labor Party under the Rudd administration. 

Furthermore, it is through the policies of both major parties that the Australian shipping industry has been systematically attacked and dismantled, throwing Australian workers aside to boost the profits of capitalists. Workers would do well to recognise the complacency of professional politicians in protecting the interests of big business at the expense of workers. The history of shippies, wharfies, painters and dockers has shown one thing conclusively – they only win what they fight for, and the government will always try and take more from them.