Red Report Back - Week Ending 17/07/2022
Climate Activists Denied Bail
Imprisoned members of climate activist group Blockade Australia (BA) continue to suffer the draconian penalties imposed by the capitalist system on those who buck the system. Two members remain incarcerated for what is essentially thought crime after NSW police arrested them in a pre-emptive raid. The BA activists have endured 17 days of isolation, with no trial, bail refused, and locked in cells with no sunlight or exercise.
One of the imprisoned activists, Max Curmi was quoted as saying ‘we need to stop destroying the world for profit, and that means dismantling and replacing the current legal, political and economic frameworks that encourage the exploitation of this earth and those living on it.’ He continued by saying that ‘they have locked me up, and they have locked up my friends, but they cannot lock down the truth, unless the people with freedom let them’.
These activists, along with several others, will face court later in the week. If the last month has shown anything, it is that the capitalist state is seizing the opportunity to make an example out of these activists. Let their tale be a warning, and rallying cry, to all who purport to care about the future of our planet.
The forces of capitalism are hell-bent on destroying the planet to secure profits. Anyone who interferes with this, whether through peaceful actions, or even the intention of acting, will be subjected to severe repression by the armed forces and legal institutions of the capitalist state. The line is drawn in the sand. It is time to organise, organise, organise. Down with fascism. We have work to do.
Shipbuilders Walk Off the Job
More than 200 shipbuilding workers, members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Australian Workers Union and Electrical Trades Union, have walked off the job in South Australia this week. Workers responded to BAE, Australia’s largest defence company, attempting to introduce what amounts to a pay-cut.
After more than a year of negotiations for a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, workers still suffer sustained attacks on their working conditions and wages while the profits of the company and the salaries of executives continue to grow. This episode highlights the utter disregard the capitalist state and the military industrial complex hold workers in.
Workers are seen as valueless cogs to be used and abused to build up profits and war machines for the capitalist class. Those involved in this issue would do well to remember the power wielded by their union family throughout Australian history. Many times before, workers held the capitalist warmongers accountable for their attacks on the working class both at home and abroad. We must learn from their example. Not a single bullet or warship can be built without these workers.
Retail Workers Win Big
ACP members attending a RAFFWU action for 'Better Read Than Dead' workers in November of 2021.
On Tuesday night, the Fair Work Commission made a landmark decision for retail and fast food workers. Members of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), who work at Sydney bookstore, Better Read Than Dead, have won their long struggle against the bosses.
Following a sustained campaign of direct industrial action by workers and supporters, members won a series of improved conditions in their workplace. These changes include guaranteed secure jobs, 6 months parental leave, double time on Sundays and better pay as well as a series of other conditions.
This campaign highlighted many things that communists and workers alike must draw lessons from. Foremost, the importance of organising and communicating with fellow workers and having a union that supports members and their fight for better conditions. With RAFFWU, retail workers received a breath of fresh air in an industrial landscape that, by and large, has grown stale in the last four decades.
It would be naïve to hope that the increase in action within the union movement over recent months will naturally lead to an upsurge in militancy that is free from the pitfalls of electoral fetishism. This example, and many others in recent months, present talking points that we must take into our workplaces, social spaces and anywhere else to highlight to the working class the importance of not just organising, but organising for rank-and-file power to achieve tangible wins for workers. Today, retail. Tomorrow, who knows?
Government Refuses to Listen to Rail Workers
The pettiness of the NSW Government was revealed once again in the ongoing dispute with the Rail Tram and Bus Union this week when Premier Dominic Perrottet filed an application with the anti-worker Fair Work Commission to prevent the union from taking further industrial action.
This is the latest move in a four year battle that has seen the NSW Liberal Government continually attack the interests of rail workers and the people of New South Wales. The constant backflips, backdoor manipulation and false promises by the government have shaped the dispute which began over the RTBU’s concerns around unsafe, foreign-built trains.
While the government has now verbally agreed to modify the trains, the union remains unsatisfied with the government’s failure to address other concerns. While accusing the union of bad faith, Perrottet attempted to weasel his way out of the issue, cancelling three meetings with the union before lodging his action to silence workers in the FWC. RTBU NSW Secretary put the issue perfectly in stating that “We don’t want this circus of the government’s making to continue”. “We just want to know that when we go to work, we’ll be operating trains that don’t risk the lives of commuters.”
Let this be a lesson to all workers that the empty words and promises of reactionary, anti-worker capitalist governments can never be accepted at face value. With the modern industrial relations landscape in Australia overwhelmingly stifling the ability of workers and unions to voice their concerns, we must fight tooth and nail for every advancement we can achieve within the system. If the government does not wish to play ball, then we must remind them – workers keep this country moving, and workers can bring this country to a halt. Up the RTBU!
Crackdown on Action
In tandem with the RTBU’s slight win in the Fair Work Commission, workers in New South Wales were silenced this week with the similarly anti-worker Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) ordering workers not to strike. Road workers and members of the Australian Workers Union were set to take their first industrial action in decades with a 24-hour action over low wages and poor conditions under Transport for NSW.
In response to worker requests, the IRC ordered these unionised road workers to abandon strike action. Premier Perrottet and the legal system of the capitalist state chose to criminalise them for demanding liveable conditions, and took the workers to court rather than negotiate with them in good faith.
As NSW edges closer to its state election, we have seen an upsurge in industrial action over simple issues like adequate wage increases and better agreements in workplaces. While some improvements have been won in some sectors, the state is increasingly flexing its legal muscles to silence, limit and attack workers who dare to struggle.
Let it be known to all workers that they cannot rely on the state to achieve victory in the industrial landscape. Victory comes from an organised and educated membership. Politicians and labor bureaucrats can’t be relied on, nor the anti-worker institutions of the capitalist state. There will always be penalties hanging over the head of organised workers, but we must remember the rallying cry of those who came before us – dare to struggle, dare to win.
West Papuan Activists Take Struggle Online
On the 24th anniversary of the Biak Massacre, where occupying Indonesian forces murdered and shot at a crowd of peaceful protestors, a group of activists came together to launch the new website War On West Papua. The event was attended by members of the West Papuan diaspora and supporters from across the globe to hear from activists and militants involved in the West Papuan struggle for independence from Indonesian colonialism.
Survivors of the Biak Massacre and ex-political prisoners spoke at the event to tell their stories, highlight the importance of bringing attention to the ongoing war in West Papua, and expose the silence that the war receives in the international community.
One speaker at the event was Bapa Filep Karma, who was shot in both legs and imprisoned after surviving the Biak Massacre for raising the Morning Star Flag of the West Papuan nation. He was imprisoned for a second time for ‘treason’ after fighting for his own nation’s sovereignty, and jailed by the invading Indonesian security forces for 15 years.
War on West Papua website.
The website details how supporters of the West Papuan struggle can take action at home. It lists which companies provide weapons and supplies to the Indonesian armed forces that are illegally occupying West Papua. Australia, of course, is heavily complicit in arming and training these genocidal forces, with the activities of the AFP featuring heavily on the website. The site highlights how the forces of capitalism prioritise profit and conflict over sovereignty and human rights, something reflected in Australia with its treatment of its own Indigenous peoples. Anyone interested in international solidarity should support this struggle, and hold accountable all who are complicit. We stand in solidarity with the brave people of West Papua. You are not forgotten.
If you wish to visit the new site, you can do so here: