On October 20, 50 people attended a forum, 鈥淧olitics, the Union Movement and the Illawarra鈥�, organised by the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC).
Speakers included Darin Sullivan, president of the NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union; Naomi Arrowsmith, Illawarra organiser of the Australian Services Union; and Nicole Calnan, regional organiser of the NSW Teachers鈥� Federation.
Members of the United Services Union, the Maritime Union of Australia, the Australian Workers鈥� Union, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Public Service Association, the Greens and the Socialist Alliance were also present.
Arthur Rorris, secretary of SCLC, who introduced the speakers, explained the forum had been called to discuss politics because 鈥減olitics is how we change the world鈥�.
鈥淭he SCLC will not be endorsing candidates for the NSW elections; we are here to develop the thinking of our movement politically鈥�, he said.
Speakers discussed the legacy of former prime minister John Howard鈥檚 anti-union laws and were very critical of ALP governments, both state and federal.
Sullivan explained the advantages of disaffiliating from the ALP. 鈥淭his has allowed us to voice our opinions more robustly and more publicly when it comes to the pursuits of our members鈥� working conditions. We will not send money to an organisation, which in our opinion, was acting directly against the interests of our members.鈥�
In the NSW election, Sullivan said, 鈥渢he FBEU plans to give open support to candidates who openly support us, and we plan to actively oppose those candidates that don鈥檛鈥�.
Arrowsmith discussed how the ASU used the federal election campaign to the need to politicise union members. They organised 鈥渕eet the candidates鈥� forums where candidates were asked to sign a pledge that they would support funding for the ASU鈥檚 campaign for equal pay.
ASU members were made aware of candidates who signed the pledge. She said not one Liberal candidate had attended a forum or signed the pledge.
Calnan slammed the ALP for lack of consultation with teachers.