Red Report Back - Week Ending 07/08/2022

Tasmanians Stand Up Against State Repression

As Australia continues to strengthen the fascist police state, the latest battle in this on-going war is being waged in Tasmania. For the fourth time, the Tasmanian state government is attempting to pass brutal anti-protest laws that would effectively abolish the right to political expression – criminalising and heavily penalising those who protest.  

The Coalition Against the Anti-Protest Laws, a Tasmanian group of unionists, environmentalists and community members that has been fighting against the passing of this oppressive legislation targeted against workers, issued a statement that highlights the severity of the issue. They condemn the anti-protest laws for giving “special considerations to corporations over the rights of citizens and lack appropriate safeguards to avoid misuse”.  

Australian communists understand the dynamics of this issue. The owning class – and their cronies in parliament – are perfectly highlighting how the institutions of the capitalist state in this country are fundamentally geared towards attacking the interests of workers. Recent campaigns waged against protesters and unionists clearly show this.

We have a duty to educate our communities, engage our fellow workers and push workers’ organisations to understand the dynamics that are at play, and to take informed action against them. Pleading and begging before the capitalist masters of Australia has never worked – and never will. The violence of the property-owning classes in Australia can only be curbed by the direct action of the workers. We mustn’t forget the well-known dictum – when injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.

Nurses Actions Spread South

Members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) in Hobart held a 15-minute strike outside the Royal Hobart Hospital on Wednesday, demanding immediate action from the state government to address the shocking working conditions they are subjected to. 

Following their comrades across the nation, these members of the ANMF took strike action over unsafe workloads and systematic understaffing. Some members at the strike highlighted the gravity of the issue with their own experiences, with one nurse recalling how they had been forced to work 16-hour shifts, saying that "we're sick and tired of listening to patronising and offensive declarations of appreciation when they mean nothing". Another nurse emphasised the demands of the workers, stating, "we hope to get safe staffing. We want to recognise our nurses with decent pay, comparable to the rest of the country, and we want to see safe staffing, which means ratios." 

Earlier in the year, the ANMF took action in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission, but as expected, little progress has been made towards enforcing what these nurses and midwives are entitled to under their award. The ANMF is planning further actions in Launceston and throughout the north-west in the coming weeks, refusing to accept the failures of the government in addressing the concerns of workers and their communities.  

The callousness of nearly every government in this country towards the vital, frontline workers that service our communities only emphasises how little concern they have for workers when they interfere with profits. When nurses, teachers, ambulance drivers and firefighters are forced into the streets to demand a living wage and safe conditions in which to perform their essential work, one can’t help but question the validity of the system that claims to represent them. The plight of nurses and midwives across Australia has only served to highlight the disdain that the capitalist class has for ALL workers. If we wish to live a fulfilling life, we have no option but to organise and fight. A finger alone cannot knock out an enemy. They must unite into a fist to deliver the blow that is needed. 

Striking nurses pictured at the February 2022 Nurses and Midwives' Association strike, in Sydney, NSW.

The Bush Capital of Youth Homelessness 

Mission Australia has released its Youth Survey for 2021 and presented the stark revelation that one-in-20 young people in the Australian Capital Territory suffered first-time homelessness during the pandemic. Unsurprisingly, more than half of those young people interviewed for the survey noted how being subjected to homelessness had brought them great psychological distress, family conflict, discrimination, employment issues and other pressures.

In the recommendations made by the report, Mission Australia naturally presented moderate ‘solutions’ to the housing crisis, centring on the federal government investing in slightly more ‘social housing’. It’s no surprise that these not-for-profits and charities rely on the perpetuation of the social issues they claim to fight. They rely on these issues to justify their government funding and tax status, profiting off the misery of workers and therefore refusing to address the root cause of the issues, lest they bite the hand that feeds them. 

Under capitalism, there is only one worthwhile solution to the housing crisis – the construction of public housing. The government of Australia, beholden to the corporate interests of capitalism and reckless profiteering, has systematically dismantled public housing system across the country. Working hand in hand with developers, they have manufactured a housing crisis that led to this current situation, both in the ACT and elsewhere. Workers must hold the government accountable and organise to fight against the monetisation of access to shelter. Under socialism, housing would not be geared around funneling profits to a handful of elites. Rather, housing would be centred on providing homes to workers in enriching environments that allow them to build strong working-class communities. For now we say: house the homeless, or expect them on your doorstep.  

Young people needing support with homelessness in the ACT can contact OneLink on 1800 176 468, or visit their website onelink.org.au 

Transport Workers Bite Back Against FedEx

Notorious corporate criminal FedEx has once again done its best to lower the bar for working conditions this week. The latest proposal by the American mega-corp would strip workers of rights including collective bargaining, superannuation and sick leave, while also implementing gig-style piece rates of just $2.50. Despite record profits throughout the pandemic, these parasitic capitalists seek to further subject their workers to appalling wages and conditions to line the pockets of the bosses and shareholders.

In response to this shameful proposal by FedEx, and in light of the more than 100 truck crash deaths so far this year, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) has launched the ‘FedUp with FedEx’ campaign. The campaign, led by workers and organisers from the TWU, is demanding the establishment of an independent body to set minimum workplace standards to begin addressing the issue.  

In response to gains made by the TWU in FedEx workplaces last year regarding job security and protections, FedEx is now trying to create an underclass of delivery workers. They are demanding that drivers use both their own vehicles and fuel, with quotas of 93 parcel deliveries per 10-hour shift, which, without any breaks, equates to a delivery every six minutes.  

Even when workers win job security, improved conditions and better pay, the capitalist class will always seek to undermine these gains and concessions at the first opportunity. The impacts of the gig-economy and casualisation on workplaces is literally killing workers, as the transport industry has shown. Workers must organise to withstand the relentless tsunami of anti-worker attacks. If we can’t organise, we can’t fight. If we can’t fight, we die. Let us not forget our fallen fellow workers. We have a duty to them, and the next generations to come.