Militant strategy needed to defend jobs
SP Newsletter No.257
While exposing the greed and corruption of corporate Australia, the labour movement also needs to wage a serious campaign to defend jobs. We can not just stand by and let the bosses drive down our living conditions and devastate our lives. We must fight to defend every job. Anything less is accepting that it should be workers and not employers that should pay for the crisis.
At the moment most union leaders support bail out packages and government support for companies who threaten to sack workers or close their doors. This is the equivalent of flushing money down the toilet as we are leaving the companies in the hands of the people who created the problem.
A much better solution is to defend every job with industrial action. If a boss says they can no longer afford to run a company, unions should demand that the company open the books to show where all the profits have gone. Companies threatening to close up or move off-shore should be occupied by the workers. Trade unions should work collectively to ensure that no machinery or equipment is moved.
Rather than giving companies more tax payer funded hand outs, failing companies should be nationalised to prevent job losses or cuts to wages and conditions. Publicly owned industries can be reorganised to meet social needs. For example, car factories could be retooled to build trains and trams or wind turbines and solar panels needed to tackle climate change.
Allowing our workplaces to be run by greedy bosses who are only interested in profits is no way to organise society. We need a democratic and rational economic plan designed to meet people’s needs.
As capitalism is proving its bankruptcy, the labour movement needs to rediscover the ideas of socialism. The urgent task at hand for trade unions and community groups is to develop a militant strategy based on socialist policies to ensure that jobs are protected and that workers are not made to pay for a crisis that they did not create.
7-Eleven workers told to pay for own security!
In early March UNITE launched a new attack on convenience store chain 7-Eleven. This was prompted by Geelong store owner, Eddie Chan, telling workers that if they wanted security guards present on Saturday nights they would have to pay for it out of their own wages!
After the store was forced by UNITE to increase the workers wages to an award rate of $15.85, the owner decided to try to cut costs elsewhere. After two days of embarrassing media attention and threats of union protests, the owner backed down.
UNITE labelled Chan “one of the worst bosses in the country” and said the issue was one of cost cutting but also a health and safety issue for the staff. The Workplace Ombudsman is currently investigating the employment practices at several 7-Eleven stores including the Geelong store owned by Chan.
Arms dealers set to meet in Adelaide
Corporate arms dealers plan to meet in Adelaide from June 30 to July 2 for the Defence and Industry Exhibition. The exhibition is an important event for big business and governments to buy and sell military equipment and weapons.
The news comes after the Asia Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition (APDSE) was cancelled last year due to the threat of mass protests. Anti war activists have already pledged to protest against the new event with the aim of shutting it down as well.
Upcoming SP meetings
The Melbourne Branch of SP meets every Wednesday at 7pm in Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South. Upcoming meetings include:
15/4/09 – The 1949 Chinese revolution
22/4/09 – Trotsky’s Transitional Program
29/4/09 – Migrant workers and their role in the struggle
For more information or for details of meetings in other parts of Australia contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111.
News links
Northern Ireland: Belfast Visteon occupation
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/04/0602.html
Kazakhstan: 1800 workers strike at Burgylai oil wells
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/04/0501.html
China: Baoding workers march on Beijing
http://www.chinaworker.org/en/content/news/690/
Join the Socialist Party
If you agree with what you have read in our newsletter or on our website you should consider joining SP. The Socialist Party has branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Perth as well as members and supporters in all other states.
We are involved in trade union work and student work. We also run community, anti-war and environmental campaigns. But most of all we want to build a party that will fight to get rid of the capitalist system, the system that is at the root of all of these problems. We fight for socialism - a system that will bring an end to wars, poverty and environmental destruction. To join SP contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a membership application form.
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Support the Socialist Party by subscribing to our monthly newspaper ‘The Socialist’. Subscription rates are only $10 per year or $20 solidarity price. You will receive 11 copies per year delivered to your door every month. You will also receive our email newsletter every week and you will know that you are supporting an organisation that is at the fore of fighting against the capitalist system. To subscribe to ‘The Socialist’ contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a subscription form.
Socialist Party contact details
Melbourne: Phone Anthony on 0396399111.
Sydney: Phone Gary on 0297287727.
Newcastle: Phone Samantha on 0249681545.
Perth: Phone John on 0894020728.
Rest of Australia: Phone our National Office on 0396399111.
Rest of the world: Phone our International Office on ++ 44 20 8988 8760.
The Socialist Party is the Australian section of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). The CWI is organised in over 40 countries across the world.
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