Let's Take Over: Union In-Activism - The Union Sells Us Out, and Brisbane Bloggers at Rally.

I got an email from Greg Combet today. He is the head of the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions), who are running the 'Your Rights At Work' campaign, which is supposed to get rid of the Howard Government's WorkChoices laws.

The email begins:

Dear David

2007 is a critical year. We have a very real chance of getting rid of the IR laws by defeating the Howard Government. We will need to continue to campaign effectively.

We have some new ideas, and we are very keen to get your thoughts about the year ahead. Please take five minutes to complete a quick online survey so we can get your ideas and feedback about next year's campaign.

Complete the survey here: https://www.cpsusurveys.org.au/ACTU.htm

The survey has a 'range of campaigning ideas', including:

Attend a rally against the IR laws in the lead up to the election.
Write letters to the editor to newspapers to talk about the IR laws and the election. Pressure your Liberal member about why they voted in favour of unfair IR laws.
Help on election day by handing out Rights at Work “how to vote” information.

What the site does NOT have is an idea like:

Become a shop steward or union rep. Win the loyalty of your workmates and lead a successful strike against your bosses when they try to shaft you.

Because if people started doing that, they would realise that they don't need the ACTU at all, or the ALP, or bosses either.

This 'Your Rights At Work' campaign is designed to keep us dependent on the Australian Labor Party (ALP), so we think we have to vote for them. The idea of actually helping workers to stand up to bosses on the shop floor, let alone getting rid of them altogether, never crosses their minds.

You don't get rights by voting. You get rights by standing up for them. Think about this the next time you see a unionist telling you how evil 'Howard' is. Because the unions at the moment are even worse - at least Howard doesn't pretend to be on our side.

In other news, two Brisbane bloggers attended a rally last Saturday December 9th, and another one spoke. The rally was to speak up for David Hicks, who has been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for five years now.

Senator Andrew Bartlett spoke, and bloggers veni vidi blogli and mei ultra vires wrote reports on the rally. Senator Bartlett also points to photos at the Spring Hill Voice website.