Albanese’s appalling union busting attack on the CFMEU with the support of the Liberals is a new low, as Labor lurches even further to the right. Albanese is desperate to prove to big business and the rich that Labor will reliably serve their interests.
Labor’s attack on working class organisation and militant unionism is a serious warning. With the economy teetering on the brink of recession (growing just 1.1 per cent in the last year), Albanese is even more desperate.
There is deep anger at the government’s failure to address the cost of living crisis. Wages are 4.8 per cent lower than before the pandemic, and bosses are more aggressively attacking workers fighting for wage increases.
CFMEU members at Etex have been locked out in their fight for 6 per cent. Fair Work has outlawed industrial action by ETU members at Transgrid in NSW who are fighting for 6.5 per cent for three years.
The attack on the CFMEU is part and parcel of the conservative approach Labor has adopted since it was elected in 2022. Labor has enthusiastically embraced AUKUS and US imperialism, lavishing $368 billion on nuclear submarines but cutting back NDIS spending.
It launched its own law and order campaign, following the Liberals, when the High Court overturned indefinite immigration detention.
When Senator Fatima Payman dared to criticise Labor’s sickening support for genocide in Gaza, she was hunted out of the party.
Labor refuses to consider any sanctions on Israel, with parts for the F-35 fighter jets bombing Gaza still being exported.
As Peter Dutton launched a racist scare campaign over Gaza refugees, labelling them potential terrorist sympathisers, Labor caved in, boasting it had rejected 70 per cent of the visa applications from Gaza since 7 October.
But we can’t wait for the next federal election, and the prospect of independents or Greens winning the balance of power in parliament. If Labor gets away with gutting the CFMEU, every union and every campaign will be weaker.
Every Palestine activist, climate activist, or refugee supporter also needs to support the CFMEU.
Building deeper support for Palestine now can win real victories. Student general meeting have won votes supporting the right of Palestinians to resist. University staff in the NTEU have already won motions supporting Boycott Divestment and Sanctions at three universities.
It’s a disgrace that the majority of union leaders have supported Labor’s push to put the CFMEU into administration. But they are badly out of step with their members. Every unionist and workplace should be demanding their union backs the CFMEU.
The national strike rallies on 27 August were a fantastic display of the power that could force Albanese to retreat. But more stopwork and solidarity action will be needed.
Labor’s lurch to the right can be stopped. Grassroots organising, strikes and protests are the way to fight the system and win real change.
