Andrew Martin, Brisbane
Just days before the ballot opened for the position of Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Queensland branch secretary on April 28, lawyers acting on behalf of the incumbent candidate, Andrew Dettmer, sent a letter to Workers Unity candidate Brett Cardinal, accusing him of making defamatory and untrue statements. The letter demanded that Cardinal sign a retraction and forward it to the membership.
Workers Unity is a group of rank-and-file AMWU members who want to see the union returned to the control of rank-and-file members.
Since the first letter, Dettmer's lawyers have sent a second letter to Cardinal and a letter to the person who has authorised Workers Unity's leaflets, Peter Hallam. These letters indicate that defamation action will proceed and they reserve the right to sue for damages.
The leaflet that Dettmer's lawyers are threatening defamation action for was not produced or distributed by Workers Unity members. All genuine Workers Unity leaflets were authorised by Peter Hallam.
Robust debate should be encouraged in a democratic union election. This action flies in the face of such debate. It is particularly nasty because action is threatened against a rank and file member with little resources behind him.
Meanwhile, a leaflet has been mailed to all AMWU members by an unknown "Protect the Union" committee that has no contact details. It contains a vicious tirade of allegations against Cardinal and Workers Unity.
The leaflet claims that Cardinal is a "failed" organiser who resigned when his colleagues lost confidence in him. The truth is somewhat different. When Cardinal was the delegate at Frigrite, its workers won the best agreement for the refrigeration industry in Queensland at that time, with a 5% pay rise per year, all overtime at double time and income protection as well as winning over $30,000 in back-pay for around a dozen members.
The leaflet also uses classic red-baiting tactics, picking on Cardinal's membership of the Socialist Alliance, characterising the alliance as an "ultra-left group".
The leaflet quotes from an internal discussion document of Socialist Alliance which calls for "Open borders, no immigration controls and full citizenship rights for all immigrants". Given that the AMWU's stated policies are supportive of refugees and migrants, it is shameful that opponenets of Cardinal's campaign are pitching for the support of members who are anti-migrant or anti-refugee.
The threat of defamation against Workers Unity members and the scaremongering leaflet about Cardinal's membership of the Socialist Alliance indicate the negative campaign being run by Cardinal's opponents.
In contrast, the Workers Unity leaflets focus on positive steps which need to be taken to strengthen the union.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, May 19, 2004.
Visit the