In October and then again in November I gave brief consideration on the response of Australian unions to the war on Gaza. Months later, with the death toll (overwhelmingly civilian), officially having reached 29,000 (with the fate of many thousands of others unaccounted for but presumably also killed and buried under rubble), tens of thousands of others wounded, the Occupied Territory and its institutions — schools, hospitals, residences, places of worship and so on — pulverised, little has changed, nor is there any reasonable expectation that it will.
That said …
On Thursday in Melbourne, members of the Australian Services Union (organised via ASU 4 Palestine) have declared that they’ll be staging a walkout in order to pressure employers in the services and community sector to join them in calling for a ceasefire. The walkout takes place almost twelve months after hundreds of members of the Electrical Trades Union in Victoria walked off the job in order to protest a proposed ban on duck hunting. This walk-off formed part of a wider campaign, supported by the so-called BIG (Building Industrial Gorup) of unions: the AMWU, CFMMEU, ETU and PPTEU. The million-dollar public relations campaign was effective: the state government ignored the recommendations of the inquiry to institute a ban, and electricians, plumbers and others can continue to enjoy shooting ducks this year.
See also : ASU 4 Palestine | Unionists for Palestine | Australian unionists come down strongly in support of Palestinians, Oscar Kaspi-Crutchett, Plus61J, February 17, 2024.
