Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church

A talk given at the church by Marion Harper on 27th January 2008

What a dreadful system of society we live in - a society that is based entirely on profit. The economy is the bottom line for everything that happens day by day. Sport is profit motivated, housing is profit motivated and the environment is profit motivated. The kind of education you receive, health care, declaration of wars, the degradation of our forests and water are all based on profit.

Dredge the bay, chop down our forests, waste our water, pull down ancient buildings, eat away at our green belt and go to war; it may not be good for the people, but oh dear, it does wonders for the investors. It is good for the economy we are told, but who benefits? Not ordinary people. So it is little wonder that trade unions and vigorous people’s organisations are under threat in this capitalist society.

With any attempt to stem the tide, challenge the profiteers, criticise the system you can now be dealt with under new legislation purportedly introduced to deal with terrorists - only today’s terrorists in Australia are ordinary people who care about the kind of world we are building. Let us be clear: if we challenge the direction unbridled capital takes us, we are all under threat.

Before Christmas, Ron Hewson raised with me the need to challenge the unprecedented attacks on the trade union movement which has not only been at the forefront of the recent federal election, but which has in fact, been an ongoing part of the history of this country since unions began. It raises the question, should we Unitarians be taking up this issue? Is defence of the trade union movement of import to this church? Is defence of the right to defend our living standards and environment justified? My answer is an unapologetic, yes.

Our church has always been so involved; it isn’t new to us and we do it because we believe that it is a fundamental Unitarian responsibility. Would we attract more people to the church if we were not so involved? Well, the other Unitarian churches in ANZUA do not take up the issues we do and they have similar attendances. Churches are not growing - they are contracting.

Erich Fromm said it well when discussing the issue of religious liberalism. ‘The question is not whether man returns to religion and believes in God, but whether he lives love and thinks truth. If he does so, the symbol systems he uses are of secondary importance, if he does not, they are of no importance’. Fromm’s statement clearly outlines my view and I believe most others in this church.

While we have members of all political persuasions, the issues we raise are not party political and we raise them because we believe it is a primary responsibility of all churches to give leadership on issues that affect the health, welfare, happiness and democratic rights of the people. I make no apology for raising these issues because today, more than ever before in our history, we are facing fundamentally serious attacks on our democratic rights. We are faced with savage legislation purportedly to deal with terrorism but which, as we predicted when it was introduced, is being used against citizens who are legitimately demonstrating for social justice.

It is now a tool to prevent opposition to government policies that are based on the needs of big business and profit. So under attack today are the trade unions and any people’s organisation that challenges unjust and unwanted decisions by government.

Today, building workers face unprecedented attacks on their conditions of work, their right to strike, their right to fly union flags or wear union-embossed clothing. This is the kind of attack imposed by the Howard government’s anti-terrorist legislation, not against terrorists but against the Australian workers themselves. The Blue Wedges Coalition, battling on behalf of the majority of Victorians against bay channelling are also victims of such legislation.

Anti-terrorist legislation is anti-people legislation and we need a federal Bill of Human Rights to protect our rights.
So my address today is about the trade union movement and about fundamental Unitarian issues such as humanism, justice, pride in service, support for democracy and the right to struggle, and most of all, a commitment to truth as I see it.

The struggle for the right to unionise and to take political action is a proud part of our history and I am glad to say that some Unitarians have been involved in many of those struggles. This is no new position for us. Previous generations of Unitarians in the early 19th century were thought of as the vanguard of the age. At that time, they were involved in a concept they called theoretical communism - sometimes called Christian communism. Robert Owen was one such and you will remember it was he who introduced unprecedented humane working conditions in his factories; this was a prime example of introducing such a concept. Owen, who called himself a communist, was prepared to introduce a form of trade unionism yet he would not take part in political action. What a contradiction.

Yet Unitarians were less divided on these issues than other religions. They believed that laws must be made so as to produce the greatest happiness of the greatest number. While this was commendable, there was an inevitable naivety about the politics of Unitarians of that time. Today, Unitarians, particularly in Melbourne are less naive and have a clearer understanding of the way in which the state operates and why there is an urgent need for collective action around social issues.

This is the contradiction we face as Unitarians. Should we meditate about history or should we make history? We know that knowledge destroys superstition and clearer knowledge brings a better understanding that inevitably results in the acceptance of action and a demand for justice for all. It is the same with unions. In the past, unions organised so successfully that they were perceived by capital as a major threat to their right to absolute control and freedom to exploit.

We have a rich union past. Unfortunately, the leadership of many unions has deteriorated. There has been a dumbing down of the leadership of our unions; some have sold out, some have lost heart, and many of the skills that once were so evident have been lost. Education about our past history has been lost and without knowledge of history, we lose our rudder.

I think it was Lenin who said ‘Out of its super profits, the bourgeoisie bribed the upper stratum of workers and built an aristocracy of labour’. Some of our union leaders became part of that aristocracy of labour and have forgotten their historic role of serving the people. Yet despite this the ruling class still works diligently to undermine the trade union movement. It appears that the capitalist system is so flimsy that it fears any organisation of working people.

Unions grew out of the recognition that to enjoy human dignity, to receive some form of justice, to have some control over your working life you must organise. Learning from Theodore Parker, Franklin Roosevelt said ‘The gains of labor are the gains of all. The new problem is to see that the machine age serves equally well the men and women who run them. If modern government is to justify itself it must see to it that human values are not mangled and destroyed. This is sound morality and good religion’. What a pity contemporary governments don’t practise this in the 21st century. What an indictment on current governments. Where are today’s Theodore Parkers? We need such leaders desperately.

Workers quickly learned that exploitation could only be beaten by collective action. Most employers in the 18th century employed children of seven upwards from 5 am to 8 pm with one break of thirty minutes at noon. In December 1831, an Act was introduced reducing the hours of working children in cotton mills to twelve hours a day. The struggle to pass this Act lasted over 20 years. These employers were usually God-fearing men who attended church religiously each Sunday and piously invoked their God while enjoying the profits made by these child slaves. Little wonder that people are losing faith in their churches.

Unions also learned quickly that it was important not only to collectively bargain but that the membership needed to be educated to be effective, and further, that while leadership was vitally important, without an informed membership that leadership could easily be destroyed. The best unions, the most militant and successful unions here in Australia, the unions that blazed the trail and established the path forward were the wharfies, seamen, building workers, ironworkers, miners, tramway and railway workers. There were reasons for this. They were the most exploited, they worked in close proximity to each other and in almost every one of these unions, they elected as their leaders well known communists, recognising their knowledge and commitment.

Under that leadership, shop committees, depot committees and inter-union committees were formed. Workers natural skills and understanding were developed and harnessed. Newsletters, journals and meetings were enthusiastic, and debate was constant and sharp. Workers began to understand how society operated and armed with this knowledge, were able to formulate policies that represented the best interests of their class.

Unions joined together in a council at Trades Hall at weekly meetings where they shared experiences and debated issues of the day, which were then taken back to the job by their delegates. This developed even further the understanding of workers and enabled them to take appropriate action around wages, conditions and wider issues that affected them and their families such as peace, housing, etc.

This organisational ability was viewed by employers as a dangerous threat to their position and they used their ready weapons, the government, and the state apparatus to undermine it. The working class was becoming too active, too informed and too strong. The employing class told us ‘unions were running the country’ when unions were doing exactly what they should be doing, representing their members interests, fighting for social justice and exposing exploitation and discrimination. One example of the collaboration between right wing unions and employers is that Trades Hall now only meets quarterly so the opportunity for delegates to share experiences has been badly weakened.

With the destruction of the Communist Party of Australia job committees, organisation on jobs has been considerably undermined and workers on the job are no longer educated about their magnificent history, their political rights and their right to take industrial action as free men and women.

However, in examining the union contribution to our country we will also need to look at the whole issue of class. Many say that we are a classless society. We do not, thank goodness, have the nobility of Britain, and generally we do not recognise royalty as having any valuable place in our society, but classes certainly exist. Like the word union, the word class is anathema to those that rule.

Both parties during the election used ridiculous phrases to avoid the word class. The Labor Party, once a democratic socialist party, never mentioned the word class once and instead they constantly used the terms ‘middle Australia’ or ‘working Australia’. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that those who are not working, or those who are not in the middle, didn’t count or don’t exist?

Why has the word class become unacceptable? It is because using the word class acknowledges that there are indeed class differences existing in society and this could lead to people questioning the double standards existing and the widening gap between those who have and those who have not; those who enjoy the dignity of participating and those who are excluded.

No examination of the attack on trade union organisation would be complete without examining the nature of the capitalist society under which we live and the extent to which the capitalist class will go to prevent any challenge to their position.

We live in a society where the bottom line is not justice or rights or dignity for those who produce the wealth of the country, but profitability and the greed of excessive exploitation. Who can deny this?

Today, unfortunately, it isn’t cool to be working class and it is rare to hear someone express pride in their working-class roots, yet it was the working class through their unions who built this country and fought for it and provided the conditions and standards of living that we now precariously enjoy.

If you use the word class, then you must look to the difference between classes, to the growing gap between those that flourish and those that flounder. This is not a safe or acceptable situation for those who would divide and conquer. It is a dangerous concept, so class goes unmentioned and the media ensure this and with it goes any examination of the wonderful contribution made by the working class of this country and our history.

This history, the very growth of our country, the development of our standards and institutions can almost all be traced to class and class struggle. The conditions each of us enjoy, the standard of living, the freedoms still left to us, all came about through the struggles, the sacrifice, the defiance and unity of working class people who were generally organised through the trade union movement. Who remembers that it was the trade union movement that gave birth to the very party that now leads this country? - the Labor Party.

Why has the trade union movement been the target of the ruling class of this country and why must we vigorously counteract any attack on our right to organise and be represented by a union?

As I said previously, trade unions are the way in which the working class organises to protect its interests and those of the wider community.

Individuals have limited power, but collectively, given truthful information for a clear understanding of the issues and decent principled leadership, there is no limit to what can be achieved. Unfortunately, this is recognised also by those who rule, and we all know that any organisation of the people that strengthens their political and social position is anathema to the ruling class and that they will use every weapon at their disposal up to, and including fascism, to destroy that organisation - and we have endless historical facts to prove this.

We also know that the majority of the Australian people support the trade unions despite the lies and distortions used to undermine this support. This was demonstrated clearly by the unprecedented mass support for waterside workers when Peter Reith brought in dogs and masked scabs to destroy them and their union, and there is no doubt that the vote that ousted the Howard government was based largely on opposition to the savage industrial relations legislation that was set to be worsened if Howard had been re-elected, and which hopefully will now be revoked.

Unfortunately, today most people have forgotten, do not really appreciate or have never learned the role the trade unions have traditionally played in this country and what we owe to the struggles of former workers and their organisations. That is not to suggest that every union has, at all times, been the role model that we would like. Some unions led by the right wing have collaborated with and sold out to the very people who are now trying to destroy them, but overall, unions have played a positive historic role, particularly under the leadership of men such as O’Shea from the tramways, Brown from the railways, Nelson and Bull from the wharf, Healey and Elliot from the Seamen’s Union and many others, not forgetting the great union leader, Harry Bridges from Melbourne, who led the American Labor movement for so many years. Bridges in the US, like many working class leaders here, faced constant efforts to revile and remove him.

Nothing we enjoy today in the way of democratic rights, freedoms, wages and conditions were ever willingly granted to us by a benevolent employer or government. All were won by sacrifice and struggle against the bitter opposition of capital and their governments - both Labor and Liberal.

So there is little need to ask why no other organisation in Australia has received such savage attacks by the state apparatus as has the Australian trade
union movement. It is because organised labour can constitute a threat to the ongoing exploitation of working class people. So it is essential for the profiteers to destroy the most militant sections of that organisation.

Just at Thatcher in the UK used the miners strike to destroy the British trade union movement, Howard followed in her footsteps, beginning with the disgraceful attack on the waterside workers as a prelude to dealing with the building unions - two of the most militant and active in the trade union movement - thus scaring the more right wing unions into passivity. To its everlasting shame the Labor Party historically has a record in office that was little different; remember Hawke and the pilots strike, and it was a Labor government that was the first in Australia to use guns against striking miners.

It is a truth that the people are always miles ahead of the political parties in their understanding, despite sophisticated efforts to keep them misled. And they mobilise vigorously when there is a well publicised campaign in defence of the trade unions.

Some of us here today, with our families, were among many people who stayed on the wharf shoulder to shoulder with waterside workers and other unionists against police, security and scabs in a unity that couldn’t be broken. One of the proudest moments of my life occurred when the police were massing to attack us and in behind them strode five hundred building workers in their hard hats, daring the police to touch those defending justice and democracy in this country. Those who were there will know that the police melted away in the face of the construction workers and the unity and commitment of people involved - people from all walks of life.

So as Ron Hewson has correctly and consistently raised , we do need to constantly demonstrate the importance of the trade union movement, to emphasise its historical role, to recognise the huge impact workers through their unions have had on this country and pay tribute to the essential nature of an organisation that brings workers together, not only to defend and improve their own wages and conditions, but sometimes to collectively examine what is happening in society and work together to prevent the catastrophic impact of capitalist greed on our lives.

Our system, the system of capitalism, is not nor has it ever been, nor can it ever be a society that is concerned about the needs of the majority. Historically we have endless examples of the excesses of capital, its wars of aggression, its attacks on living standards, its excessive profiteering and its lack of integrity in world affairs

In Melbourne, our Unitarian history from the first Unitarian minister has been one committed to social justice, each generation armed with new truths and new understanding have been involved in the struggles for a better society to ensure that working class people have a share in the wealth they produce.

This is the kind of leadership we so badly need from our churches and we must never sacrifice this commitment because of criticism from a few whose attitude would condemn us to eternal servitude. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past.

We urgently need more men and women with commitment and integrity and independence and courage who are not afraid to speak out on issues of national concern, and long may this church continue to do so.

The pages of history in this country are littered with reactionary efforts to curb democratic rights to destroy wages and conditions, to demonise anyone exhibiting progressive politics and to control any working class organisation. The right to strike is a basic human right and the withdrawal of labour is what distinguishes a free worker from a slave. Yet today there is legislation which prevents the right to strike. Australia, which began as a penal colony, has now in the 21st century returned penal powers.

Look at our union history. Remember Eureka, the shearers strike of 1891, the maritime strikes of that era, the miners strikes, the conditions that workers endured during the Great Depression, repressive legislation introduced prior to the Second World War which were restrictive of freedom of speech, assembly, organisation and publication, some of which still exist today.

Remember the pig iron issue when wharfies refused to load pig iron for Japan to be turned into weapons. Four thousand employees, ordinary workers, were out of work for nine weeks under huge pressure from the employers, the government of the day and the media, but the men refused to buckle to a right wing government and the greed of a company that put profits before lives. They won, it was a crushing defeat for the government, and the workers were proven correct in their stand. As they have been historically on most issues.

It was the trade unions that won the 8-hour day and all the other conditions we currently enjoy. It was the trade union movement that initially led the fight to expose the Vietnam War, it was the trade unions that defeated the penal powers when Clarrie O’Shea was arrested (although those powers still remain on the books) and it was the unions that saved heritage buildings for future generations.

This is part of our working class history, a history that we can view with pride. We can also state with pride that this church has been at the forefront of many of those struggles and hopefully we will continue this proud tradition, when many organisations and individuals in our community have given up. As Samuel Adams said in Boston in 1771, ‘The necessity of the times, more than ever calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance. Let us remember that ‘if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it and involve others in our doom, it is a very serious consideration that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event’.

Perhaps that which I have contributed today, will demonstrate the importance of our working class heritage, of pride in our trade union history and of recognition that we as Unitarians must continue the struggle for democratic rights and social justice into the future.