I can’t decide what makes me angrier: Bill Shorten’s actions at the AWU, or the fact I am not surprised by them.
For those of you have haven’t caught up, last week Fairfax media revealed a range of questionable dealings Bill Shorten was engaged in during his time as the Victorian and National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union.
In particular, Shorten negotiated a workplace agreement with Thiess John Holland that cut worker’s conditions, whilst saving the company millions of dollars. At around the same time, Thiess John Holland made a donation of $300,000 to the AWU.
There have now been further allegations, including claims that during his leadership Winslow Constructors paid the union $40,000 to cover the memberships of 105 workers, and that the chemical manufacturer Huntsman paid the union’s Victorian branch hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure workers “didn’t disrupt” their operations.
On the weekend Shorten came out swinging to defend himself, arguing this is how ‘modern unionism’ works. Others have lined up to say the same thing. Technically he did nothing wrong.
As a lifelong unionist this makes me extremely angry. This is a very strange model of unionism to me.
Unions, I believe, are built on a simple principle of workers coming together to build power. They are about challenging the entrenched economic interests in our society in order to create a better deal for workers in both the workplace and in our broader lives.
Look at Shorten’s “modern unionism” however and I’m struggling to see these ideals in practice. This style of unionism seems to have given up on the ideals of workers organising collectively, instead basing itself on union leaders coming together with businesses to negotiate worker’s rights. This is why we see unions taking in millions of dollars of donations from big corporations, and negotiating deals that employees don’t even have an opportunity to vote on.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just limited to the AWU. The allegations against Shorten for example come only months after the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) negotiated an agreement with Business South Australia that cut weekend penalty rates for all workers.
Last year, after QANTAS announced massive cuts to staff, unions were extremely weak in their response. Leaders quickly ruled out industrial action, instead calling on Tony Abbott to save the airline and in turn worker’s jobs. Unions have also done a good job at isolating key parts of the movement, whether it is United Voice calling for students, environmentalists and same-sex couples of be kicked out of the ALP, or Paul Howes arguing that Greens are not part of ‘his movement’.
Since when was this how things were done? Unions are supposed to be there to build worker power but increasingly that is not the case.
Primarily through their historical link with the ALP, but increasingly through connections to the business world, union leaders have become an entrenched part of the political class. In turn, the working class has suffered. What kind of unionism is that?
That does not mean the ideals of unionism are bad, or even that they are dead. With growing economic inequality, and attacks on workers from Liberal and Labor Governments, unions are needed now just as much as ever.
There are many in the union movement still out there fighting the good fight. I have been a member of the National Tertiary Education Union for years now, and have always been impressed by their staff’s dedication to the workforce. I strongly stand behind the Community and Public Sector Union, and their members, who are striking across the public service at the moment. These unions, despite some of their flaws, are clearly standing up for their worker’s best interests.
But these localised instances are not enough. Unions are fundamentally failing in their core goals, and it is becoming clearer that it is leaders like Bill Shorten who are a major part of the problem. Some union leaders seem more interested in doing backroom deals that standing on the picket line with their workers, and then they wonder why membership numbers have dropped so dramatically.
As a unionist, I feel as though it is time to stand up and say, enough is enough. While the Royal Commission into Unions is clearly nothing more than a political witch hunt, at the same time that doesn't mean these unions are actually acting in the best interests of their members. While Shorten technically did nothing wrong, that does not mean what he did was right.
Bill Shorten calls himself a ‘modern union leader’. As a principled unionist, that makes me very worried.
Simon Copland is a freelance writer and climate campaigner. He is a regular columnist for the Sydney Star Observer and blogs at The Moonbat.
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