Howard’s unfolding anti-people agenda

By Roger Jowett, National Secretary

Roger Jowett

The RTBU National Executive has donated $5,000 to the Australian union movement's Aid organisation. At job level many collections have occurred and a number of employers in our industry have enabled payroll deduction facilities. The ACTU Executive convened to co-ordinate union responses to the tragedy.

The world's largest countries have responded to the tsunami disaster by bringing together billions of dollars and a crisis plan, which included suspending debt repayments. This response shows that international cooperation can be harnessed to reduce world poverty.

A recently released United Nations report Investing in Development outlined a plan to halve the estimated one billion people living in dire poverty (less than A$1.30

per day) in less than ten years if developed countries doubled their foreign aid. It reported that the world's richest 500 people have a combined wealth greater than the annual earnings of the poorest three billion.

ALP leadership - symptom of a deeper problem

The sudden resignation of Mark Latham as Labor leadership and as an MP has once again seen a bout of head counting and positioning for the leadership. The spectacular rise and fall of Latham is due to a severe medical condition made worse by his lack of communication and individualistic leadership style. A political meteorite if there was ever one.

Labor lost the October 2004 election with its second lowest primary vote ever and Howard's' conservatives won control of the Senate. Latham had been set an impossible task to win office after only ten months as leader. It took Whitlam two elections after 1966 to with with his policies. Hawke's drafting into the role in 1983 came at the end of a political cycle.

The 2004 election was marred by a number of strategic blunders by Labor, including the late release of their major policies. A failure to pursue economic issues left it vulnerable to the scaremongering and lies about interest rates regardless of the facts. The spectacular failure to consult with Tasmanian timber workers left the opportunistic Howard being supported by a group of disaffected blue collar workers.

Whatever the outcome of the leadership battle two things are certain.

First, Howard will press ahead with a radical conservative agenda including a barrage of legislation against Australia's unions, privatisation of Telstra and further concentration of the media to assist the rich and powerful. Internationally, the Bush inauguration speech promised continuing US unilateralism as the world's only super power and projected the continuing policy of a divided America with a proposal, based purely on ideology, to privatise the social security system.

Second, the Federal Labor Party must redevelop its economic and social policies, rebuild and expand its base, and develop an independent foreign policy, if it is to fight its way back into the political ring. It must offer real alternatives.

March 7, 2005 - ITF Rail Workers' Safety Action Day

The RTBU is supporting the global safety action day with a number of activities to push our demands for governments and employers to take action and invest in people, safety systems and infrastructure.

Two recent reports highlight the safety problems in the rail industry and the impacts and failures of privatisation, contracting out and restructuring. The first concerns the death of Track Inspector Karl Petry who, following the derailment of his HiRail vehicle, was left alone for four hours, seriously injured, and died in hospital the next day. The investigation report has sparked an RTBU / Community campaign for a thorough overhaul of the South Australian Rail Safety Act and the adoption of a national code of practice for HiRail vehicles.

The second report was the final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry by Justice McInerney into the January 2003 Waterfall crash, in which seven people including the driver were killed. The comprehensive report has 127 recommendations, which cover 20 major areas.

The release of the report comes at a time when the Federal Government's National Transport Commission is preparing national rail safety model legislation. The RTBU will have a real fight on its hands to ensure that the lessons learnt from the deregulatory excesses of the 1990s are reflected in the legislative proposals. It will be a major focus of RTBU campaigning in 2005 and reflects the continuing development of a national rail industry in Australia.