Take the struggle up to Howard - Build a General Strike! : Melbourne Indymedia

Melbourne, Australia: Take the struggle up to Howard - Build a General Strike!

Thursday, November 30 2006

Australia, Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (MACG)

Take the struggle up to Howard - Build a General Strike!

Leaflet distributed today at the big union rally and march at MCG and then the central Melbourne against Howard’s new industrial laws (Work Choices).

Howard's anti-worker laws are appalling, and everyone knows it. The barefaced lies about “choice” are contradicted by the horror stories of people being sacked and offered their job back with a massive pay cut, of workers losing “protected” conditions at the stroke of a pen, of bosses demanding draconian AWAs as the price of having a job at all. This is capitalism, here, today.

The bosses won't hold off forever

If big business hasn't yet used the laws against most workers, it's not because they're are nice guys. It's because they're afraid. They're worried we might fight back and they're worried about the electoral fallout. This situation, though, can't last. After the election, big business will launch attacks on the broad workforce. They'll be hoping to take advantage of a Liberal victory “legitimising” Howard's anti-worker legislation, but in any event they'll need to protect their competitive position. Nobody will be safe.

The ALP won't save us

A “Labor” government will be no saviour for workers. In the first place, it would have to get any repeal of “Work Choices” through the Senate, which they are highly unlikely to control. More importantly, however, the ALP is desperate to prove its credentials to big business, which would not tolerate any substantial erosion of the State-enforced supremacy of employers. If business is willing to accept ALP amendments to industrial relations laws, it would only be as a strategic retreat in the face of a grassroots movement of workers themselves.

Build a general strike

We must control the struggle ourselves and not surrender it to union officials who are more interested in boosting the ALP's business credentials than in winning disputes. All workers who resist the bosses' demands should be supported to the hilt through solidarity action and every dispute is an opportunity to spread the struggle further. To knock off the laws for good and stop an offensive by business using their powers under Work Choices, though, we need a general strike and we need to start building for it now. This struggle is too important to lose.

The rank & file have to take charge

Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group

30 November 2006

macg1984@yahoo.com.au

Notes: MCG is Melbourne Criket Ground, a big sport stadium. ALP is the Australian Labor Party, currently in opposition in federation level but in the government in all the States and Territories of Australia. John Howard is the prime minister.
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Comment by cross poster
Last June there was an ACTU/VTHC Rally against IR Laws and p[osters went up all over Melbourne calling for a General Strike Bloc.

Alas most of the "ultra-left" and some anarks did not support the focus and the subsequent heckling of Beazley/ Bracks ALP hacks as their priority was to "educate the masses".

Now groups like MACG and Socialist Party of Australia are calling for General Strike. Better late than never.

With the spectacle of the MCG and even less interest or practical support for a General Strike bloc this time there were just the usual stalls by sects and leafletting.

Personally I helped sell t-shirts for Union Solidarity the least sectarian and most pratical organisation around the IR Laws at present.
The t-shirts are done here in Richmond, Melbourne and Union Made by TCFUA members ie ethical and thus more radical than usual local ie 'sustainable' "Australian Made".

Union Solidarity for me means working with strikers, picketers those locked out or working-in; ALP members and Anarchists; Stalinists and Trotskyists; Catholics & Protestants; Muslims and Jews; Aussies and recent migrants; unionists and unorganised unwaged workers; in reality your usual suburban street, workplace or educational institution. Many are activists but whe there is solidarity for an ongoing struggle eg at AMCOR in Preston which was "illegal" a lot of people turn out to support those in struggle.

Returning the solidarity I was on a stall with an AMCOR picketer who reckoned he still had his job thanks to Union Solidarity, he understood solidarity to be mutual aid ie a two way thing what you put into it you get out of it. It was encouraging and would be even better to see more of us workers do similar ie stick together the basis of unionism.

The focus of the Your Rights at Work campaign has Officiallly now moved on from "worth fighting for" to "worth voting for" ie 'vote Howard out' ... would have preferred Strike Howard out instead BUT the slogan reflects the overwhelming dominance of the ALP and ALP Union Officials at present.

A lot of peole at the rally did vote for Bracks/ALP Victorian Government and I made it clear to anyone who asked me I did not vote for any of the pollys and advocate direct democracy instead but most chose to opt for Voting so rather than argue tediously I opted to move on to talking of what happens after elections ie in everyday life for say the Ajax workers who are working in and cannot await the next Federal election.

I used to rant on about how fucked politicians obviously are and still do occasionally but it seems to be a dialogue buster betetr to find some common ground with "voters" by talking solidarity with those in struggle.

Vote what you like, worship the God of your own choice (Abraham, Allah, Buddah, Jesus, Sport, Cars, Shopping...) but you still have to work with all sorts of people who may not vote the same way or believe in the same religion/pass-time or even not vote and not believe in any Religion..how we work together treat each other ie walk the talk of solidarity is the priority for me these days. I have also tried to learn to know when to stop, take a break not go to a meeting, a rally etc and listen to music, read a book, have a swim a walk etc... have some rest and recreation so I return to the long term struggle with some energy and I do reckon it is going to be a long term to get the Howard regime and its legacy eg the militarism from the War on Iraq, anti-worker High Court Judges and authoritarian Governor General for starters.

New Zealand workers went through a similar series of defeats and set-backs with plummeting wages and conditions, many youths opting for migration; however finally recently there has been an upsurge of unionism amongst wage-slaves there. On Thursday there was a solidarity protest in NZ by unionists with the Australian events. The international union movement comparing and learning from campaigns is alive and well and we should always look to the planetary bigger picture to get some real perspective.

However I digress, we made some money for Union Solidarity for 2007.
If you want to buy a t-shirt (available at better places around Melbourne ie union offices, union picnics, some bookshops etc. find out more then see
http://www.unionsolidarity.org

Better still get involved in a Union Solidarity local group (there are twelve already) and support your local workers in their community and in struggle.