Red Report Back - Week Ending 18/09/2022

Liberals Throw Low Blow at the RTBU 

A statement from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union stated an intention to switch off Opal card readers at train stations across Sydney’s rail network as part of ongoing industrial action during enterprise bargaining. The RTBU was planning on shutting down the Opal card system indefinitely in response to the NSW Liberal government’s continual refusal to engage in good faith negotiations. 

However, the RTBU was forced to change is plans at the last minute in response to a series of threats from the Perrottet government and its right-wing, anti-worker ministers. The government lodged an application with the ironically named Fair Work Commission in an attempt to prevent the union’s democratically voted-on action, with Transport Minister David Elliot menacingly stating that any worker who was seen to engage in this action would be prosecuted.  

As this dispute continues with the back and forth between workers and their employers, we are continually shown the assortment of tactics that the ruling class will use to stifle the demands of workers. In addition to the outright threats coming from the Liberal government of New South Wales, we have also been reminded throughout this whole saga of how the modern industrial relations apparatus is fundamentally geared against workers.  

With industrial action now being legally confined to periods of enterprise bargaining that occur every few years, workers are unable to utilise their industrial muscle to have their justified concerns addressed. Similarly, as the RTBU case has repeatedly shown, when workers attempt to abide by the rules created by the employer class, the forces of the capitalist state will bend these rules and do all they can to prevent workers from expressing their limited rights.  

The battle between the RTBU and the Liberal government of New South Wales has reinforced what every working person in this country should already know – if workers attempt to rely on the goodwill and faith of the capitalist state, its institutions and its rulers for justice, they will receive nothing but heartache. Workers have no justice but that which they make for themselves. Dare to struggle, our comrades on the rails.  

Education Staff Take on Victorian Catholic Schools 

The Independent Education Union (IEU) launched industrial action against Catholic education employers in Victoria last week. The continued failure of Catholic school employers to recognise and value the work of teachers, principals and support staff in their workplaces has forced the IEU to launch industrial action in an attempt to bring attention to the currently perilous state of schools.  

From Term Four of this school year, IEU members that are employed in Catholic schools across the state will be implementing a ‘no more freebies’ policy. As part of this action, teachers will no longer be completing work that falls outside of working hours until they receive fair compensation for their work from their employers. The IEU has stated that this action will continue until employers listen to the demands of teachers for better working conditions, more staff and fair pay that compensates teachers for the hours worked.  

The issues raised by teachers in Victoria don’t just apply to schools – they extend to other workers in industries such as nursing, midwifery, firefighting, paramedicine and countless more. The neoliberal policies of the capitalist state in Australia are failing not just the workers in these industries with poor conditions, pay and staffing, but impact the working public as a whole.  

Subpar conditions in education are impacting the development of a whole generation, as well as disillusioning and turning away thousands of people who would be excellent teachers. As tensions grow and the cracks in the system grow, we are reminded of just how deep-rooted the failures of capitalism are in Australia. If this system won’t take care of our teachers, nurses, midwives, firefighters, train guards and everyone else who isn’t a landlord, politician or business owner, what do the rest of us have to gain from its continued existence? This is a question every Australian worker must ask themselves.  

Queensland to Hold Housing Crisis Summit 

The Labor Premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced she will hold a summit to address the state’s growing housing crisis. A preliminary roundtable discussion, held before the summit, had representatives from the housing industry, social welfare groups and members from local and state governments in attendance. 

Naturally, the government excluded renters and the working class, the people who are most heavily affected by this issue, from attending the preliminary discussion. With the Olympics heading towards the Sunshine State in the next 10 years, they no doubt will do as Sydney did before them in 2000 - push poverty and homelessness out of sight and out of mind for the tourists and yuppies in the cities. 

Many have been critical of this skin-deep move, with the South East Queensland Union of Renters (SEQUR) slamming this so-called “affordable housing roundtable” for being hosted by a Premier, Deputy Premier and Housing Minister that are all themselves landlords profiting off of the housing crisis. Similarly, the summit has been criticised by SEQUR for not representing working class renters, while at the same time inviting the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, Property Council of Australia, Master Builders and the Planning Institute of Australia to all have a seat at the table.  

This attempt to appease the concerns of the public with these hollow actions is a reflection of how polarised the housing crisis has become in Australia. With the ruling class of politicians and property vultures wielding their power and influence to protect their stolen wealth, working class people are increasingly being forced either into debt, subpar housing or both. 

As we noted in last week’s Red Report Back with the analysis of Crikey’s report on federal politicians and their housing assets, we cannot expect the landlord class to act against their own interests as the housing crisis grows. These parasites repeatedly refuse to look at solutions such as public housing, as their wealth and influence is reliant on sustaining the commodification of housing at the expense of working class people. As always, we must call out their lip-service and hollow acts, and hold these two-faced politicians accountable. When it comes to politicians and the housing crisis, all we’ve learnt is don’t believe the hype. 

Culture Vultures and Climate Criminals – Labor’s Indigenous Tokenism   

Last week, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek signed off on a urea plant project for the Perdaman fertiliser company at Murujuga, also known as the Burrup Peninsula. With the flick of her pen, Plibersek condoned the wholesale destruction of a highly significant and sacred Aboriginal site. 

Before approving the super-plant, Plibersek rejected an emergency cultural heritage application filed by traditional custodians and Elders of the area, who sought to halt the construction of the fertiliser plant as it would cause the destruction of multiple sacred Murujuga rock art sites in the area. Once complete, the site is expected to create some 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2050. 

The farcical nature of a government that tries to cloak itself in a progressive veneer is revealed perfectly in this shameful case. We witness the Labor government trading off the cultural heritage of Australia, in the process highlighting their performativity around the Uluru Statement and campaign for a Voice to Parliament and Constitutional recognition. This is a government that ignores the pleas of its most disadvantaged constituents and instead opts to willing bow down to the pressure of the capitalists. 

As Labor does everything it can to stifle First Nations dissent and criticism against their campaign for constitutional recognition, their shameful actions at Murujuga show their true colours. This is a government that smiles and shakes your hand on camera, and stabs you in the back as soon as no-one is around. A government that sells out the interests of those most in need of support, while at the same time jeopardising the future and wellbeing of us all to help their corporate mates. A reformist party like Labor under a capitalist system will always be a party that sells out workers to the highest bidder. Australian workers would do well to remember this.