PSU rank and file launches election campaign
By Barry Healy
SYDNEY — "I'm not running to show a banner. I'm running because I see on the faces of the members I represent the effects of the pressures and stress that are bearing down on them every day as conditions suffer in our workplaces", Phil Sandford told a public meeting at the Teachers Club on February 5.
Launching his rank and file election campaign for assistant national secretary of the Public Sector Union, Sandford said the current PSU leadership has been linked to deals within the ACTU and the ALP and has seen its role as getting those deals accepted by the membership rather than actively representing them. The latest example was the campaign by the leadership to win acceptance of enterprise bargaining.
The result has been a weakening of the union delegate structure and the use of bureaucratic methods of dealing with members rather than organising. He pointed to the current "tepid" attempt to get members to switch from direct payroll deductions to bank account deductions to pay union dues: this is being attempted by direct mailing rather than by organising.
Membership control of the union, and especially of any amalgamations, is essential, Sandford said. Presently amalgamation is being proposed with the State Public Servants Federation on the basis of the components acting like separate entities for three years and then a final fusion process being discussed among the top officials.
Sandford called for membership discussion of this "strange" amalgamation. "But not like we've had before: nice glossy pamphlets pushing one line", he said.
He reported that support for his campaign is mounting around the country, with groups of activists helping in a number of centres. Financial support is increasing, a growing number of people responding to a request for donations of $100 each.