Red Report Back - Week Ending 21/08/2022
Rail Workers Refuse to Roll Over
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) is utilising area-based strikes, along with other creative forms of industrial action this week, to emphasise to the Liberal state government of NSW that the safety of workers and their conditions are not for sale. Examples of creative union actions include leaving station gates open for commuters and placing a ban on transport officers issuing fines.
Naturally, the government and its agency, Transport for NSW, has been threatening commuters saying that police will fine them if they do not break the picket line and tap on while workers undertake this industrial action to protect the safety of both themselves and the community. Refusing to bow to the state’s intimidation and bribery, workers are standing firm with industrial actions that minimise the impact on the broader working class.
The RTBU has employed reduced services on five targeted lines across Sydney’s network throughout the week, so that only specific areas are impacted with each day of industrial action. The union maintains that it will continue these actions until the government signs a deal to confirm safety changes will be made. State Secretary of the RTBU, Alex Claasens, said that “workers won’t be bullied into allowing unsafe trains to run on our railways, nor will we be bullied into submission more focused on ideological games than in delivering the public transport system we all deserve”.
This prolonged episode highlights several key takeaways that we must note. Firstly, it shows the importance of a union flexing its industrial muscle to hold employers accountable and protect the interests of workers. Additionally, it has emphasised the pitfalls of being modest or tame when coming to the bargaining table. As workers, we must not forget the lessons from Labor’s last reign, where the government systematically slashed funding to the state’s public transport system and other infrastructure in the interest of corporate privatisation.
With the new Metro lines being privatised and automated by the government, the RTBU must take a stand in the interests of both the public and rail workers. The last two decades have shown that workers and their union representatives must not submit to the institutions of the state government or Fair Work Commission. We stand in solidarity with our comrades in the RTBU and say only this – hold all enemies of the workers accountable.
Do You Want Fries With That? McDonald’s Called Out on $250m Wage Theft
The notoriously right-wing union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) appeared to make an unprecedented move against a major employer this week in lodging a wage theft claim against McDonald’s in the Federal Court for at least $250 million in unpaid wages. The claim comes over the alleged denial of paid breaks to more than 250,000 current and former employees at the notoriously anti-worker fast food giant.
The SDA is claiming that workers across 1,000 current and former sites are owed the money as they were denied their right to an uninterrupted 10-minute break when working more than four hours during a shift. Workers were told that if they took the break, they forfeited their right to refreshments and bathroom breaks. The SDA’s branch secretary for South Australia was critical of how “a large employer such as McDonalds would create a scheme that leads to people not being paid correctly or getting base entitlements”.
Despite these statements, those familiar with the SDA’s track record of working hand-in-hand with large employers to protect their own interests would know there is more to this story than there seems. A statement released by McDonald’s noted that these “arrangements have been known to the SDA for many years. The manner of taking breaks has not been challenged or raised by the SDA as a matter of concern throughout successive enterprise bargaining processes for new industrial agreements”.
Indeed, the issue would probably have remained unaddressed by the SDA if not for the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) taking action back in 2018. This has repeatedly been the pattern with the SDA and major employers, trading off the rights of workers in exchange for industrial peace for bosses, while in return boosting membership for the SDA. Back in 2018, RAFFWU addressed the issue during bargaining, taking further actions in 2019 before winning a court case against the anti-worker franchisee in 2020. Similarly, they launched a class action in 2021 with 20,000 registered class members. RAFFWU Secretary Josh Cullinan said that “this has been a game of catch up for the SDA now for three years.”
This fiasco has several notable takeaways for workers. Firstly, reactionary, tame-cat unions will always adopt a façade of militant unionism out of self-interest to preserve their own image and standing among workers. Secondly, workers can’t rely on the labour bureaucracy to advance their interests. The rights of workers can only be secured by workers and the action they take. As casualization and globalisation continue to hammer those seeking to earn a living, we must recognise that we have the power to take action. This case has given every Australian 250 million reasons to hold their bosses and unions accountable.
Broken Windows, Broken Dreams – Number of Vacant Social Housing Homes in WA Jumps by 25%
As the housing crisis across Australia worsens, more than 2,000 social houses sit empty in Western Australia, a consequence of government inaction and disregard for the wellbeing of the working class. A recent report revealed that there were 2,000 homes requiring repairs, maintenance or demolition due to their dilapidated state. This is 400 more than the same time last year, a telling sign of the growing housing crisis wherein the government has worked with developers to maximise profit from the housing market at the expense of workers’ wellbeing.
This figure is even more striking given that there are over 19,000 individuals and families waiting for public housing in Western Australia, with an average waiting time of 12 months. When considering this massive gap between public housing stock and demand, one can only be shocked at the fact that there are only a measly 860 social homes currently under contract or construction in WA. The WA social housing stock currently sits around the 42,000 mark, shrinking each year as supply fails to keep up with growing demand. Over the past five years alone, there has been a 39 per cent increase in the number of people accessing government-funded homeless services in WA.
As noted in the Australian Communist Party’s housing policy, the current situation highlights the fundamental inability of the capitalist state to address the housing crisis. As long as government works hand-in-hand with developers to accelerate expansion and profit, it is the working class who will suffer. Under these conditions, communists have a duty to fight for existing public housing, and its expansion to meet the needs of the workers. Talk to those in your community who are homeless or in precarious housing, and educate them so that together we can be empowered to take action to defend the interests of the working class. Housing justice is not just a hollow phrase, but a rallying cry to action.
Doors Remain Open, Mob Remains Staunch at NCIE
This week, community groups of the Redfern Aboriginal Alliance continue to hold on as the peaceful sit in of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) enters its second week. The peaceful sit in was launched by the local First Nations community organisations that service the area, consisting of renowned groups such as Redfern Youth Connect, Tribal Warrior and First Nations Response.
The sit in came about in response to the decision of sell-out leaders in the native title apparatus to close the site and fire its workers, as they were unable to make this vital community service ‘profitable’. In response, the workers of the NCIE and the groups that make up the Redfern Aboriginal Alliance launched the sit-in, and have issued the demands listed below.
Firstly, that all staff be guaranteed their employment at the NCIE, regardless of whose hands it ends up in. Secondly, that the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) and NSW Aboriginal Land Council commit to funding the NCIE for at least the next three years. Further, that these bodies disclose details around the negotiations, decisions and terms of agreement for divestment that have been continually hidden from workers and community stakeholders. They are also demanding that this vital piece of land that supports the community not be sold, and that this be confirmed by the ILSC and NSWALC. Finally, they have demanded that that all income from the NCIE site be utilised towards funding the operations and activities of the NCIE that service so many working class families in the area.
This whole incident has shown the deep issues permeating the modern First Nations struggle. Firstly, we see the working class elements of the Redfern-Waterloo community coming together to protect the rights of workers to employment in their own community. Secondly, it has highlighted the issues that come when a class of privileged bureaucrats sell out the interests of a working class community. This is an issue that is rampant across Australian society, but is rarely talked about in relation to First Nations issues. One need only walk down to the Block in 2022 and see what the outcomes of these processes are.
As working class communities, and in this case particularly Aboriginal communities, suffer from the relentless attacks of gentrification, we must recognise the importance of drawing a line in the sand. The struggle of the NCIE and these community groups is heavily intertwined with the eradication of working class people being unleashed by the government in the Redfern and Waterloo areas. As these formerly undesirable areas of our inner cities become trendy, we see the most vulnerable pushed out to the fringes of the urban sprawl, forced into inadequate housing without the vital services and support they need. This is the case with the Waterloo public housing estate being turned into majority private housing as gentrification forces out working class renters, to make way for the new Metro rail station that will border the site. The working class must unite if it wishes to fight against this relentless tide. As communists, we stand in solidarity with those fighting to keep the NCIE open. Keep the doors open, an