Red Report Back – Week Ending 05/06/2022

Votes Are In

An Australian Labor Party government led by Anthony Albanese has come in to power, ending more than a decade of Liberal-Nationals rule. In brief, despite some cause for celebration, we must recognise the truth that this is not as big a victory as it may seem.

We acknowledge that this change marks an opportunity for more gains to be won for workers and, we believe that there is a duty to pursue these positive changes for the working class to the fullest extent. However, we also recognise the need to remain prepared and ready to fight for the interests of workers, regardless of which party is in power. So long as those at the top of the political and labour movements are maintaining and extending the systems that suppress workers, they are always, always, always going to be fundamentally limited in what they can achieve.

To this we say: we should not fall victim to pessimism or paranoia. Rather, we must organise around preparation and accountability. If the past few decades have shown anything, it is that workers can’t rely on the change they need to come from above. So catch your breath for the moment. We’ve still got a long way to go!

Housing Workers Strike

ASU workers in Victoria have gone on strike over the failure of Launch Housing to follow through on several promises. The workers, who are employed at a community organisation that delivers homelessness services, have been prompted to action over several issues.

Launch Housing has failed to provide a classification review to justify the low wages workers have been receiving, and workers are also demanding better wages to match inflation in accordance with the important work do for the community. The members and supporters from the community and union movement held a rally outside of the Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing office in Melbourne.

It is issues like these that show how flawed capitalism is in addressing homelessness and the housing crisis. The handing over of responsibility to the private sector and non-government operatives has led to a worsening of the housing crisis, as the government continues to avoid its responsibility in providing housing solutions for the working class. The contradictions between the most impoverished and the most well off are growing – as are the tensions. Housing is a right, but to get that right, we will have to fight, because those at the top have shown they simply do not care.

Paid Domestic Violence Leave

A landmark ruling by the Fair Work Commission will now provide 2.66 million workers access to 10 days of paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. The ruling stated that these workers, who are under modern awards won by unions, will now be able to access the paid leave.

While this is a victory for workers, there are some caveats. This change only protects those who are lucky enough to be on union awards that protect workers and their interests. For the majority of working class people, who suffer compounded impacts of domestic violence (DV), this means that DV leave is still inaccessible.

Similarly, we must remain aware that while positive, these changes fail to address the underlying factors in Australia’s legal system and culture that allow domestic violence to go unpunished. Rarely is the same zeal that law enforcement has for petty crimes put towards protecting the most vulnerable. As it stands, one woman a week in Australia is murdered by their current or former partner.

These piecemeal reforms are represented in another significant development this week. Supermarket giant Coles is now offering 10 days paid gender affirmation leave to some employees. However, this is also the same Coles that only 2 years ago was found guilty of underpaying more than 7,500 workers by $115 million. The same Coles that worked to prevent members and representatives of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union intervening when an agreement that covered 75,000 Coles workers was terminated, decimating worker’s rights. The same Coles that staffs minors at junior rates which in turn robs young workers of $8483 per year, giving Coles an extra $220 million in profits per year.

The lesson to be drawn from these developments is that while workers and unions may wrangle some concessions from the ruling class, these are only crumbs. We must fight for these concessions along the way, but never lose sight of the real goal – taking power for the workers and ending the exploitative system we suffer under.

Bussies Refuse to Roll Over for Libs

Last week, bus drivers working for the private company Transit System in Region 6 of Sydney’s Inner West were turning off their Opal machines across the city for Fare Free Friday. The actions have come about at the behest of the RTBU membership in response to the state government’s two-tiered system which allows different wages and conditions for workers doing the same job, a classic tactic for privatising companies.

These actions have a greater importance to all workers in how they highlight the issue of permanency and fighting against the increased casualization of the workforce. These workers are exemplifying how members of workplaces and unions need to fight against aging out benefits for older workers, which leaves new and younger workers worse off.

Rather, as unionists, they are fighting to protect the rights of workers to come. The movement needs further actions like this to reverse trends where other segments of the union bureaucracy have sacrificed the interests of the few for the needs of the many with narrow short sightedness, and in response to the savage trend of privatisation that seeks to undermine not only worker’s rights, but the needs of the public for reliable, accessible transport that can service the community. May these bus drivers keep those wheels a-turnin’.

Teacher Strikes Expand

On Friday, staff from Catholic schools across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory went on strike. The Independent Education Union (IEU) made the call for industrial action, following in the footsteps of their colleagues in the New South Wales Teachers Federation, who have gone on strike several times in the last few months. 

Much like their comrades in public schools, members of the IEU are calling out the government for failing to address the burdens that higher workloads and growing staff shortages are creating for not only teachers, but students as well. These actions are symptomatic of a government that has little care for teachers, students or schools that aren’t in the rich enclaves that these politicians and their lobbyists have interests in.

This is represented by the fact that private school funding has increased at five times the rate of that compared to public schools, averaging an increase of $3,338 for private school students over 10 years, compared to only $703 more for public school students. Under the Morrison government, private schools have also received an extra $10 billion in funding, while public schools remain underfunded by at least $6.5 billion a year. There will be no justice in education for staff, students or the working class so long as politicians play favourites under the capitalist system. A just, fair education for all is achievable in a socialist society.