Godfrey Moase is an executive director of the United Workers Union, and cofounder of the nonprofit energy cooperative, CoPower. His views are his own.
The Australian labor movement is hampered by draconian restrictions on strikes and union organizing. But solidarity bargaining — which times industrial action to coincide across many industries — could enable the breakthrough workers need.
The Liberal Party’s plan for a “gas-fired recovery” is not just the product of climate change denialism. It’s a class-conscious scheme to guarantee the profitability and continued hegemony of mining and fossil fuel capital long into Australia’s future.
For both the Australian and British Labor Parties, 2019 was a year of defeat. Neoliberals in both countries drew a trite, predictable conclusion: Jeremy Corbyn and Bill Shorten were too radical. Not only are the parties incomparable, but the Australian example proves that a centrist would have lost just as badly.
The Australian establishment has unleashed a wide-ranging attack on the country’s labor movement.