The Albanese government is moving to scrap the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and it’s about time this happened. The ABCC has been a political police force generated as a major attempt to deny workers in the construction industry to join and be protected by a union.

Staffed by ideologically driven functionaries, the Commission has relentlessly and pedantically pursued, interrogated, and had workers charged for interfering with their employer’s assumed right to be master. Most of the cases involved safety issues in one of the most dangerous industries. Workers routinely die and more are seriously injured every year. Nearly all cases trace back to employers cutting back on safety. The second most important issue was employer wage theft. The ABCC never pursued these matters.

But for workers on a site to even complain has been deemed unlawful by the ABCC.

This is not all. At its peak, individuals were ordered into a hearing, face accusations and denied the right to defend themselves. They had to answer questions and inform on others under threat of imprisonment. No wonder this became known as an appearance before the Star Chamber. The purpose was obviously to intimidate the victim and send out a warning to others.

It went so far that the appearance of union symbols on a site, and even the flying of the Eureka flag was made illegal, after the ABCC took the matter to the Federal Court in 2019.

Raising one’s voice in an industry where the language has always been somewhat colourful and loud is nit-picking and wrong, when a penalty is applied only to one side and the other allowed free reign. It is doubly wrong when a swear word is made far more important than a worker falling to death or being crushed because and employer didn’t want to spend on ensuring some basic safety.

No other group of Australians has been submitted to this sort of treatment.

Major construction employers are upset and claiming that the sky will fall in without this big stick. It won’t. Workers will still be turning up to do their shifts to get the money they needs to pay the bills and put food on the table. Employers will still keep on pocketing profits, even if they do go down slightly.

It began as former Prime Minister John Howard’s open attack on the existence of unions. The construction unions were targeted because they were regarded as the leading force of the movement. It was hoped that their taming would create the conditions for moving on to other unions.

Shamefully, all subsequent governments continued with Howard’s plan and the ABCC remained. The Reason? Applying the pressure was part of the bigger effort to reduce the share of national income going to the worker, which is central to the neoliberal approach to economic policy. Only by taming the unions could this be applied effectively.

The assault has had some effect. There has been some taming and a degree of loss of union presence at some worksites since the defeat of John Howard. But within this there has been push back. The construction unions are still there, and workers continue to join them.

What comes next is just as important. The government is playing this low key at present. But its future legacy will be staked on this. time will tell where this leads

Abolishing the ABCC is an essential move towards the improvement of workplaces. It brings up the question of democracy at work. For a start, everyone should have the right to expect to go home and to one’s family at the end of a shift and to not accept anything that might take this away.

It doesn’t stop here. One should have a voice where oner spends most of their conscious life. Without this, it can’t be said we live in a truly democratic society. And it is only through their collective that workers have a voice. Barriers to realising this are inherently undemocratic.

any workplace can only function to its full potential through everyone working within it as a team. Yet most workplaces and the economy function as a dictatorship of the employer and employers as a class. Why? Because they are the owners. But all depend on the workplace for their livelihood. Without the worker nothing would happen. Does not this support the right to have a voice?

Australia would do well to redefine the authority within the workplace as an essential pillar of genuine democracy.

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Unions have met and discussed how to react to the ongoing health crisis and deepening economic crisis being felt by working people. Those they represent include health workers and others contributing o the wellbeing of the community. If employers and the government fail the call for an urgent response, industrial action is on the cards.

The unions are not alone. They are part of the growing community dissatisfaction over how the Morrison government is managing the pandemic and the economy. Morrison and his gang have turned their backs on the battlers who are losing incomes and getting sick.

When Omicron arrived, we were told that it is mild and will not have a serious impact. It proved to bring more hardship, illness, and death. And the support systems to help people in these tough times are inadequate at best. Even health care workers are often being left high and dry, despite their efforts for us all putting them in harm’s way.

There is a sense across Australia, that the damage is here for the long haul. Omicron has shaken the confidence that Australia is on top of the pandemic. People are too scared to go out and stay home when they can. Consumer spending has fallen sharply, as the economy falters and incomes to fall behind.

Photo from Gavin Coote/ABC news

Now the government has moved to hand the distribution of the rapid testing kits (RATs) over to the private sector and force people to pay exorbitant prices. Profiteers have hoarded an already inadequate supply, forcing the cost of a single kit through the roof. Up to $100 has been paid for one.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and its affiliates point to the failure of the government to prepare the health system and community and have agreed to approach employers for risk assessments and safety plans, with unions and health and safety representatives.

New measures are needed in the workplace. Free RATs must be provided, they argue, and employers must cover the cost while a price remains, and employers must supply ungraded masks and ensure adequate ventilation.

Business groups have rushed to oppose these measures. The Australian Industry Group, for example, has stated its opposition to free RATs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has joined in, by claiming that strikes are wrong and calling on Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese to stand against the unions.

Preparations are being made for responses on the job win the union demands. Stop works and banning unsafe practices has been mentioned. Unions are calling on the community to join them, and work for a union-community alliance to force a change in government direction.

Doing this will provide a tremendous opportunity to build alliances involving thousands of Australians and extending the response from the workplace out into the community. When this happens and is organised properly, change it makes a huge difference.

This is what put an end to John Howard, his government and unpopular WorkChoices law that attacked jobs and rights at work. A similar alliance had rallied around the Maritime Union of Australia, fighting to remain on Australia’s waterfront in 1998.

In 2022, the situation is even more serious. As important as this is, it is not just about Covid. The Australian economy is in trouble, wages as loosing their share of the nation’s income, and the proportion of the workforce in insecure work continues to grow.

The pandemic has shown the necessity of government intervention to protect citizens’ livelihood and wellbeing, alongside the generation of community participation.

Instead of this, the Morrison government is delivering more pressure on Medicare, inadequate provision for the health system, contributing to the unaffordability of housing, and continuing to attack those on social security. They are walking over basic human rights and moving towards big brother government.

Defence of workers and the community in the pandemic is part of the bigger battle to make Australia a decent place to live in.

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Last Friday, the Port of Melbourne was shut down by determined members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). They did this to send a message to tugboat operator Svitzer. The dispute is over negotiations for a new workplace agreement  have stalled for 18 months, causing growing uncertainty.

Supporters from other unions and the broader community came along to show their support.

The dispute is continuing.

The main concern has been a threat that the employer will undermine existing conditions. The union says that the company has been doing well and making billions.

Svitzer is owned by Maersk of Switzerland, which is the largest shipping company in the world.

The company refuses to share part of the gain with its workers. A $7 billion profit last year, to which these workers contributed, has not made any difference

Management has moved to increase the time seafarers must stay on board its ships without time off to go home and to family. The are forced to work long 12 hour shifts and get no penalties for working nights.

The stopping of tugboats means ships can’t come in or go out. It grinds the whole port to a standstill. One must be effective to protect conditions under threat.

Several significant recent industrial disputes in different parts of Australia over the threat posed by shipping companies.

Without a union willing to protect its members jobs and conditions on the waterfront and at sea would fall. This would play into the ambitions of the maritime employers . This is tun, would play into the hands of major employer groups across the economy.

This brings echoes of the 1998 Patricks waterfront dispute. It ended with a major win for the union, made possible by overwhelming public support that brought tens of thousands into active involvement.

Australia’s could be heading for another showdown on the waterfront.

The share for wages in the wealth of the economy is falling. Major employers and government want to extend this. The drive to casualise work and use this as a battering ram to force through substandard conditions and pay makes this clear.

Australian workers have little other choice but to fight back and avoid being pulled down into the conditions faced by earlier generations.

They fought back and won conditions that made all the difference. Today’s battle is to defend the gains of the past and move forward. The Maritime Union of Australia and its members are defending their turf.

The MUA and its members also have tradition of giving their support to other unions and workers.

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