By Tully Bates
MELBOURNE — The Victorian public transport system is under attack as never before. The Kennett government's decision to accelerate privatisation will result in increased fares and a reduction in services. As well, any successful application of the new Workplace Relations Act (WRA) in the transport industry could hobble a leading sector of Victoria's workers, further weakening the position of everyone else.
Since the 48-hour strike on March 8 the state government has declared war on public transport workers. It claims it has to rein in a "rogue union" and that privatisation is the only way to protect Victorians.
But the sale of Melbourne's trams, trains and buses — once they have been made profitable — is just another stage of public asset sell-off. Latrobe Valley and other Â鶹´«Ã½ of the State Electricity Commission (SEC) have already been sold and the gas industry and water supply are next in line.
The process of turning a public service into a profit-making enterprise has devastated Britain's public transport system.
In Birmingham and Manchester, for example, fares have increased by 49% and patronage fallen by 36% since mass transport was privatised a decade ago. This compares with London where the system has remained public and fares have increased by 29% and patronage has declined by only 3%.
A weak and divided work force is another essential criteria for privatisation. By introducing the WRA, the Howard government has loaded the gun which Kennett is now ready to fire.
The WRA will drastically cut conditions and weaken the work force's ability to negotiate wages and conditions on a militant and collective basis. Awards will no longer contain maximum shift hours, paid leisure days, meal breaks, amenities, clothing and equipment, rights of members to have union assistance, redundancy procedures and provision for consultation about changes to work practices.
It will be hard for industries in the manufacturing and construction sectors, public servants and others to stop the flow-on effects to their workplaces if the transport workers are defeated.
Not surprisingly, Victorian Labor leader John Brumby has not opposed the privatisation plans. In office, Labor got the privatisation ball rolling by selling Loy Yang B power station, the State Insurance Office and the State Bank. Clearly, for the anti-privatisation campaign to succeed it must be independent of the Labor Party.
While the Public Transport Union (PTU) leadership of secretary Peter Bourke has, at times, sounded very militant, it now seems to be in a quandary. Instead of focusing on the two most important issues — corporatisation/privatisation and the WRA — its propaganda stresses cooperation with the government's industry "reform".
The only union leaflet produced so far states: "Even as the work force has been reduced from 28,000 to 9500, workers have shown a willingness to adapt to change." It argues that the dispute is "about super [and] the right to some stability and basic conditions" without explaining the wider impact of privatisation on the public.
A serious anti-privatisation campaign must explain these effects if the widespread, albeit passive, public support for public transport is to be mobilised. It must also involve workers in the public service, gas and water industries and health sector, who are next in line for privatisation.
Many public transport workers are complaining about the union's lack of strategy for how to win against Kennett. If the PTU is to win this dispute it needs to consult its members much more and begin a serious industrial campaign now.
[Tully Bates is a tram worker and member of Tramweb, a tramways rank and file group. To get involved in Tramweb, telephone (03) 9386 5604.]