MELBOURNE: The capitalist press never tires of telling us that trade unions are dinosaurs whose time has passed. Government ministers tell us the unions are irrelevant, sick and dying. Their remarks remind us of Mark Twain's quip over rumours of his death: they were, he said, much exaggerated! This was shown last month in Victoria when tens of thousands of workers jammed the streets in two terrific rallies against the Kennett Government's attacks on WorkCover. The rallies showed that the enormous latent power of the workers has not disappeared.
The magnificent rallies and strikes have shown that there is still a solid core of committed trade unionists who have not lost the will to struggle. And it is precisely this kind of battle that will underscore the relevance of the unions for the working class. With boldness and imagination, combined with dedication to the old principles of working class solidarity, we can rebuild the union movement and in the process chuck out the all-too common careerists who see it merely as a springboard to advance their ambitions to get into parliament or wherever.
The Trades Hall Council is only as strong as its affiliates. And some of the leaders of some affiliates have behaved in a disgraceful, cowardly and even treacherous way in this campaign. It is no thanks to them that so many people turned out for the last strike and rally.
And what is really pathetic is that this spineless behaviour came at a time when the establishment is deeply divided over the WorkCover changes and over other pernicious 'reforms'. Twenty three large employers have said Kennett is wrong. Even the Herald Sun says he shouldn't do it. And on the eve of the strike, Roger Pescott quit parliament and dumped a bucket-full of poo on Jeff's head, citing WorkCover and the attacks on the independence of the Auditor-General as the two final straws.
And Pescott is not the only one with cold feet. You can hear the knees of the Liberal backbenchers knocking together. Sure, Jeff will crash through, but what does the future hold for them? Kennett has blustered and bullied his way through every obstacle up to now, but many of these talentless nonentities know that there is a terrific pressure of resentment building up against their autocratic boss, the Tyrant of Spring Street, the silvertail who stood behind the windows of Parliament House and laughed at injured workers. They must sense that although a week is said to be a long time in politics, that what Kennett is doing now is both unforgettable and unforgivable. And that means that those of them in marginal seats will be so much political dead meat. Now is not the time to retreat on the industrial campaign. Now is precisely the time to step up the pressure! We need more strikes and rallies with ALL unions involved. We need to picket Parliament House and turn up the pressure on the Coalition backbenchers so that you can hear the pips squeak.
And finally, although Pescott's resignation is a gift for the labour movement, we should strenuously oppose any attempts to call off the industrial campaign and should not place our faith in the ALP. The enormous industrial campaign of 1992-93 against the cuts and anti-union laws was sabotaged by the ALP. They said that militancy would jeopardise their election chances. And look where that got us: Johnny Howard in Canberra and Kennett returned with an increased majority. Apart from that, the ALP has shown that it simply cannot be trusted to deliver the goods. When John Brumby promises to undo all of Kennett's so-called reforms, to restore all the services cut by Kennett's razor, to renationalise the stolen public utilities, and to restore workers' rights, then we might be able to talk, but then pigs might fly... In the meantime, let's work together to make Kennett's life hell, to squeeze his backbenchers and the employers until they tell him to back off on WorkCover.