Unions fall behind Lennon

The Unions Tasmania hierarchy has flexed its muscles to shore up blanket support for the Lennon Government in the state election of 18 March. It did so after Crikey revealed last week that union bosses Simon Cocker (Unions Tas secretary) and David O’Byrne (who is also state president of the Labor party) had been rolled.

Plenty of union organisers and plenty of members were plenty unhappy with the Lennon Government over a number of issues, in particular workers comp laws and objected to wholesale support, let alone union money going into the campaign. But the hierarchy went to work behind the scenes and rounded up all affiliates to a lengthy meeting of the Unions Tas Council in Hobart yesterday. Old Labor had the numbers and won the day. But not before Cocker complained of a breakdown in discipline.

A resolution was passed in which the Lennon Government was praised for its stand against the Howard Government’s IR laws and the Greens were blasted for “willingness to join a Liberal minority government”. Accordingly, the meeting resolved “to adopt a policy position of support for a majority Labour (sic) Government as the best outcome for the state election for protecting workers’ rights.”

Despite the lobbying, it wasn’t a unanimous decision. The Australian Nursing Federation voted against it, while the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance abstained. I am MEAA Tasmania Branch president and discussed the issue with Branch secretary Andrew Muthy before he went to the meeting. MEAA cannot and will not support any political party during an election — despite what some pollies think — hence he abstained from voting.

Curiously, Cocker told The Oz today, that he wanted a closer relationship between Labor and the Greens, that the two parties were wasting resources fighting each other, and should concentrate on the Liberals. Not so curiously perhaps, because his brother Philip Cocker is a Greens member of the Hobart City Council.

Meanwhile, Greens Leader Peg Putt has put out media release on the issue this morning in which she says: “It is completely untrue that the Greens would ever be part of helping Howard’s repugnant attack on workers into place which the two top officials at Unions Tasmania knew full well because Nick McKim and myself gave our guarantee to them in person that this would not be on the table in any negotiations.”