Recently Kevin Rudd reiterated how little he cares for unions (but will take their money of course) and how out of touch he was. Talking on Melbourne radio station 3AW he stated new laws to replace the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) would be implemented "without fear or favour" even if that meant a union official going to jail.
Here's the problem I and many others have with that.Rudd is implementing laws which have fear and favour as a central element to them. They favour employers in the construction industry and keep the fear going for workers. Rudd has sided with big business and organised capital and given them a "tough cop on the beat" which has powers akin to treating construction workers like terrorists.
It's also appalling to see former union officials run to Rudd's defence like the gutless wonders they are. Where's the champion of the Your Rights at Work campaign Greg Combet? Probably trying to remember which safe seat he was parachuted into. And where's Bill Shorten, the hero of the mine collapse in Tasmania? Too busy keeping his right-wing business buddies within the ALP happy.
Unions do need to re-examine their relationship with the ALP. But that's for another blog...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment