The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
March 27th, 2002. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney.
2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central
Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
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ALP: A crisis of policies and ideology
The recent announcements by some trade union officials that they have or
are considering resigning from the Labor Party reflect a deep-seated and
widespread dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the ALP among
working people.
by Peter Symon*
It is a crisis of political leadership of the working class. It is a
crisis of the policies and ideology of the Labor Party which have been
followed by many trade unions.
Disillusionment, frustration and anger have been building up for a
number of years and will intensify as the leadership of the Labor Party
distances itself more and more from the interests of the working class
and the trade unions.
The intention of the ALP leadership to "modernise" the Party signals an
intention to continue in that direction come what may.
The present day disillusionment (there have been previous periods of
dissatisfaction with Labor -- the actions of Labor governments during
the 1930s' depression, for example) commenced with the adoption of
economic rationalist policies by the Hawke/Keating Governments of the
1980s and '90s.
The Labor Party adopted the so-called "competition policy". Its main aim
was to justify the breaking up and privatisation of public enterprises.
Since then the privatisation of publicly owned enterprises and
institutions has been pushed by the Howard Government and by both
Liberal and Labor State Governments.
As public ownership went, so did the social charters that were
associated with public enterprises. Profits came first -- not social
responsibilities and commitments.
Private ownership was crowned king and the ALP doffed its cap to the
corporations. Not even those public enterprises that had been created by
the Labor Party years before, were defended.
Many other consequences flowed from the adoption of economic rationalist
policies. Instead of technology leading to shorter working hours and
other benefits for workers it became accepted that technology was
sufficient reason for the number of workers employed to be substantially
reduced. Support for a reduction in overall working hours was abandoned.
Tens of thousands were sacked and hours of work rose substantially. The
argument that employers had to cut costs, despite enormous profits, was
accepted. The centralised system of legally binding awards was scuttled
and individual work contracts introduced along with widespread
casualisation.
All these measures are means by which employers reduce costs, and at the
same time, reduce the living standards of workers.
The ALP failed to take a stand against contracting out, casualisation of
the workforce, privatisation, the winding back of Medicare and the
promotion of private health insurance, the cutbacks to public housing,
the transfer of state school funds to private schools and cuts to
university funding.
It is in these circumstances that the perception is growing that there
is little difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal Party --
and it is true. With this disillusionment came the search for an
alternative.
The fact that many trade union leaders failed to contest the policies
and arguments being advanced by the leaders of the Labor Party resulted
in widespread disillusionment among workers with trade unions as well.
This is the basic reason for the sharp slump in trade union membership.
The argument of some workers was simple: Why should we pay money to a
trade union when the union appears to be not even trying to protect our
living standards and working conditions?
This is not to accept this argument or to overlook the undoubted
difficulties for trade unions created by anti-trade union legislation.
However, there was an all too ready acceptance of the policies and
arguments put forward by the Labor Party and the employers that are
behind the present political crisis.
The accumulated bad results of these policies for the working people are
now being expressed as disillusionment in the Labor Party and the
welcome search for an alternative.
But the solution is not to be found in mere organisational measures but
in the adoption of working class policies and ideology.
Disillusionment up to now has been expressed in one election after
another as the primary votes for both the Labor Party and the Liberal
Party have gone down and those of some of the smaller parties have risen.
In desperation some voted for the demagogy of One Nation. Others fell
for the racism and phony nationalism of the Liberal Party. Some went to
the much more progressive Greens. But overall, the vote of the
disillusioned was fragmented and without direction.
The search for an alternative has now been taken up by a number of trade
union leaders and that is what makes it significant. The strength of the
trade union movement could give a progressive direction to this
community-wide search for an alternative, provided a range of policies
which challenge the power and privilege of big business is presented and
campaigned for. The unacceptable and failed policies of the past need to
be combated openly.
Working people require honest representation and policies that will look
after their interests. Anti-worker policies and sham arguments that have
had such bad consequences for working people need to be rejected.
There has been some talk of forming a "workers party" and it is reported
that a constitution has been drafted. Some have spoken about joining the
Greens. It is certain that others will be persuaded to remain in the
ALP, accepting the argument of the present ALP leaders that by staying
in, the policies of the Party may be changed. Will they?
The argument of unity is also being raised. But unity for what policies?
Simon Crean's determination to "modernise" the Labor Party by weakening
its trade union and working class connections is hardly an acceptable
basis for unity.
For its part, the Communist Party supports every effort to win support
for policies that serve the interests of the working class. Many others,
in a variety of organisations, also support and advance such policies.
Working class policieis include support for public ownership with social
commitments, working class democracy (which means the participation of
the working people in all aspects of economic, social and political
life), peaceful and humanitarian relations with other countries,
substantial improvements in living standards, jobs, a fully maintained
public health service and public education system and much more.
The implemention of such policies requires the establishment of a new
type of government such as has not been seen in Australia before.
Such a government, closely linked with the people's mass movements and
struggles, could implement many of the policy proposals which have been
put forward by the left and progressive political parties, by trade
unions, environmental, peace, educational and community organisations,
health and democratic rights bodies.
To be effective, we believe that such a new type of government would
have to substantially curb the power of the big corporations.
Such a government would include the political representatives of all the
progressive and democratic forces, from communist and left Labor, from
trade unions and progressive community organisations, from the Greens
and environmental organisations, from working farmers, professional and
small business circles. It would be democratic and multi-party and
answerable to the people -- the vast majority of whom are working people.
This is not some opportunist ploy arising from recent developments but
is rooted in the historical fact that to bring about a significant
change in direction Australia needs a government giving priority to the
needs and interests of the working people, to country people, to
educators and professionals and those who provide the many necessary
services required by the community.
The Communist Party would contribute by assisting work on policies in
cooperation with others, working for unity, providing hard working
activists and so on. Communists have proved to be committed and reliable
stalwarts who are loyal to the working class.
The Communist Party has a wide range of working class policies. It is a
working class party. Those who are committed to the immediate and
longer-term interests of the working class have a place in its ranks as
active members. We hope that those who are at present looking for an
alternative do not limit their perspectives and will think seriously
about joining the CPA.
In Australia, the best years for the trade union movement were those of
the 1940s, '50s and '60s when the Communist Party of Australia had
considerable influence in the working class, in the trade unions and the
labour movement generally. Many of the strongest unions of those years
had a combined communist and left Labor leadership.
The present CPA needs to be much stronger and this can only happen when
working class and other committed activists join it, thereby extending
the Party's activities and helping in the formulation of policies in the
fields of social, economic, political and cultural life.
Of course, each present member of the Labor Party, in considering their
disillusionment and what is to be done about it, will make their own
decision.
Whatever the outcome, the CPA will continue to respect and work with all
who have similar or identical policies on the many issues that confront
the working people of our country.
* Peter Symon is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Australia.
.
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