PRESSURE FOR UNIONS TO FOLLOW ETU LEAD
20-July-2011
Whilst faceless Australian Workers Union (AWU) boss Paul Howes shows he has no spine and has joined the throng of Labor lobotomised zombies, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has publicly rejected the Gillard Government’s carbon tax.
Dean Mighell, the Victorian State Secretary of the ETU, recognises that the carbon tax is bad for jobs and bad for workers. He says the ETU cannot support the Gillard Government’s carbon tax package because of a total absence of a jobs plan.
Mr Mighell is concerned that 800 jobs may be lost if the Hazelwood power station closes with indirect job losses flowing into the thousands.
The stance of the ETU is totally at odds with Paul Howes from the Australian Workers Union (AWU) who on Monday fully endorsed Labor’s carbon tax.
Mr Howes previously vowed to oppose the carbon tax if it cost a single worker’s job.
This reversal highlights the desperation of Mr Howes to tow the Labor line.
Staying mute on the carbon tax, which is the biggest threat to jobs in the manufacturing sector, will only cause workers to become disillusioned and will lead to a drop off in union membership.
Previously, the Victorian branch of the ETU endorsed the Greens as their political ally.
The threat of job losses in the struggling Latrobe Valley must be a bitter pill for electrical workers to swallow, especially as they now recognise the reality that the Greens do not have their interests at heart.
It’s time for unions to abandon propping up a dud Prime Minister at the expense of workers.