"When we said we'd rip up WorkChoices, what we really meant was..."

On the Monday prior to the recent election John Howard said he was happy for the 2007 poll to be a referendum on WorkChoices. It was good that he was happy, because that is exactly what it had become by then anyway. The Your Rights At Work campaign showed that community campaigns do work; if the community is engaged. Just over 12,500 people across NSW got involved in the campaign. These were people, separate from the ALP, who came from all walks of life - many who had never been involved in a political campaign in their lives - who took the fight for rights at work to the streets, shopping centres, train stations, festivals and community events of our nation. If you weren't engaged at some stage by the Your Rights At Work campaign you simply weren't living in Australia for the last 18 months. It was a brand that was everywhere. And what carried that brand? Ordinary people. And many of these people had borne the brunt of WorkChoices - they'd had their incomes slashed, been sacked unfairly, had their rosters go all over the place and been bullied and intimidated by employers that took Howard's laws as a green light for bastadry. If you want examples I have heaps and am happy to share them. Which is what makes Julia Gillard's statements about not being in a rush and being "careful and measured" so sickening. Those same employers will read this gutlessness as a further green light to continue to treat human beings like shovels to be picked up and put down when needed. We are seeing this already, most notably with Telstra. What part of the phrase 'rip up WorkChoices' doesn't the Rudd-Gillard government understand?

• A credible survey has shown that WorkChoices was the reason why 5.6 percent of voters shifted their vote to the ALP
• It is highly unlikely that Kevin Rudd would be Prime Minister now if it wasn't for the Your Rights At Work campaign.
• Neither Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard or any other ALP politician has mentioned the Your Rights At Work campaign in any report since the election, let alone thank and acknowledge both the people and the community campaign that worked incredibly hard put them where they are today.

This is, of course, being aided and abetted by the ignorant ostriches in our pathetic media, who must live in some parallel universe where the Your Rights At Work campaign never happened. The Your Rights At Work campaign WILL continue. We are not going away just so that Krudd and Gillard can schmooze the Australian business community - the community we live in comes first.

Silence Speaks Volumes

The ongoing silence from the new powers that be doesn't auger well for working stiffs, as Rick Kuhn points out in today's Canberra Times. If it can be pointed out in a Rural Press flagship then the ongoing triumphalism of the spin doctors bobbing up in pieces like this one from Andrew West in the SMH can be even more depressing for the footsoldiers in the Your Rights At Work army. Focus groups are all well in good in fashioning your message - and it is a lucrative way to fill the carpet bag - but it all counts for nothing if you can't then get that message out. This is where the tens of thousands of word-of-mouth activists came in. Focussed on 24 marginal seats they, as I pointed out on Monday, won 22 with one still in doubt. And they did this as volunteers - giving up hundreds and thousands of hours for free, reaching into parts of society where the ALP's message couldn't go - at least not in that one-on-one sense that proved so valuable. This campaign had it's TV ads and T shirts - make no mistake they made a difference - but at its core was thousands of conversations between ordinary Australians, where Your Rights At Work activists went one on one with neighbours, family, friends and strangers alike to ensure the message sunk in. For the first time in a long time the union movement started speaking out into the community. As a result the campaign attracted many non-union members as supporters - concerned about the impact of these laws on their families and communities. It's a good time for the Labour Movement as a whole to realise that it's great strength is not a few spin doctors, operators and policy wonks - but it is actually a far more powerful group - thousands of ordinary people organised into a cohesive and effective voice. It's little wonder that those so seduced by power would be reluctant to acknowledge such a strong force even if it put them where they are today. A force like that could really derail the gravy train if they, quite rightfully, demanded the government address their concerns. No, better to pretend they didn't exist - or if they did then play down their role. Remind them of what power they do have and they might start to use it. In the end Kuhn may be right - and we may all discover that Rudd is nothing but a four letter word* * An idea courtesy of Tog's Place