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BY SUE BOLTON

MELBOURNE — As attacks on the militant leadership of the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union are stepped up, the Skilled Six Campaign has begun meeting. The campaign group was set up by Melbourne unionists to defend the AMWU officials and members who face charges connected with an industrial dispute at Johnson Tiles in 2001.

Initially, six AMWU officials and rank and file members were charged over a June 15, 2001, alleged incident of vandalism at the labour hire firm Skilled Engineering. However, charges were later brought against a seventh AMWU member over this incident, and then this year police charged 17 AMWU members for alleged vandalism at Johnson Tiles — an incident which also took place on June 15, 2001.

A total of 18 AMWU members have been charged in relation to one or both incidents. They include several leaders of the militant Workers First grouping that controls the Victorian branch of the union, including Victorian AMWU state secretary Craig Johnston.

The Skilled Six Campaign group has produced a statement pointing out that:
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• “The real thuggery was the decision of Johnston Tiles and Skilled Engineering to remove the livelihoods of 29 workers by sacking them and outsourcing their jobs.”

• “Employers and the state and federal governments are targeting the AMWU in Victoria because it has been winningÂ… They hate the AMWU's use of pattern bargaining Â… to achieve industry-wide outcomes for workers.”

• “[The AMWU] has also given a huge amount of assistance to other unions in their industrial campaigns and has supported a wide range of community campaigns Â… these unionists are being victimised for political reasons.”

Federal workplace relations minister Tony Abbott has made no secret of his desire to destroy Workers First. Abbott is worried that the AMWU's industrial militancy is rubbing off on other unions — threatening the enforceability of the draconian Workplace Relations Act.

But Workers First is not easy to eliminate: Johnston is not interested in a parliamentary career and he has no fat bank accounts. Intense digging by journalists last year revealed no evidence of corruption.

The unionists are also under attack from the national office of the union, dominated by a pro-ALP faction hostile to Johnston. Instead of supporting the Victorian branch in the face of the attacks, the national office has decided to launch an internal inquiry, smearing the unionists reputations further with other unproven accusations.

Australia has a history of political trials. When Builders Labourers Federation national secretary Norm Gallagher was convicted on corruption charges in the mid-1980s, one of the jurors revealed the intense pressure she was under to agree to a guilty verdict for Gallagher. She said that huge media campaign against Gallagher had convinced most jurors he was guilty before the trial began.

Tim Anderson was convicted twice for carrying out the bombing of the Sydney Hilton Hotel during a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the 1970s, despite contradictory evidence from the police's informants. The sentences were only overturned after huge political campaigns.

The Skilled Six Campaign is organising motions of support from other unionists [see box on this page], distributing a statement to be signed, organising public meetings and fundraising.

The campaign is helped by the fact that the AMWU branch has been supportive of many other union and community struggles. AMWU support helped ensure that the S11 2001 protest against the World Economic Forum and the M1 protests in 2001 and 2002 were successful. It has supported International Women's Day rallies, was one of the key unions involved in the campaign for a free East Timor, and has supported the Victorian Refugee Action Collective.

The Skilled Six Campaign meetings are held every Tuesday at 5.30pm in the back bar of the John Curtin Hotel, Lygon Street, Carlton South.

For more information phone Chris Spindler on 0425 784 819. Donations to the campaign can be made through cheques addressed to the Skilled Six Legal Defence Fund or by depositing money at the ANZ bank. The account's branch number is 013259 and the account number is 5922 380 38.

From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, July 10, 2002.
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