War Pigs

War Pigs

Unions called to fight war on workers, not world war

The deal hatched in secret for Australia to join a new security pact and sign off on $200B US nuclear subs for a looming war with China is a bad deal for workers.

The Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) trilateral security pact the Morrison Government announced last September may come with submarines. But at a price.

“The billions wasted on submarines should be spent on building an Australian strategic shipping fleet, renewable energy, raising Jobseeker payments above the poverty line, pay increases for health workers and teachers – not a war mongering military alliance,” the Maritime Union proclaimed in a media statement last September.

Instead of preparing for a war drive the Australian government should be converting shipyards in Adelaide and elsewhere to the production of an Australian merchant fleet, Deputy National Secretary Warren Smith reported to the union’s February monthly meetings. The MUA position is to build a trading fleet instead of a fleet of environmentally destructive war machines.

The MUA is playing a lead role in a coalition of unions and peace groups opposing the new military pact.

Smith spoke at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament online conference based in the UK in January while Dave Ball, MUA deputy branch secretary Victoria spoke at public rally in Melbourne. Paul Pietersen, Queensland assistant branch secretary and relieving official Aaron Johnstone were active at the Brisbane protest.

More recently the MUA was represented on an online panel of peace activists, featuring renowned historian, social critic and political activist Professor Noam Chomsky.

Also on the panel was Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union National Secretary Steve Murphy who gave an impassioned speech on how the union had campaigned hard to get 350 Australian jobs for the now defunct French submarine contract, only to have them all lost.

“We don’t need another war but if we are going to beat the drums of war it should be about something worth fighting for,” Murphy said, calling for a war on poverty, inequality, exploitation, political corruption, wage theft, insecure jobs, media bias and tax avoidance.

Speaking alongside Murphy on the international forum, was Port Botany wharfie, delegate, peace, environment and climate activist Nat Wasley. The risk of contamination from the subs was huge, she warned.

“It is inevitable if a nuclear sub sinks the fuel will leak onto the seabed and the radiation will contaminate sea life impacting on fishing communities,” she said, also warning of nuclear proliferation. “The fuel on board subs is equal to 20 nuclear weapons.”

Chomsky told the panel he was

sceptical of the US prediction that China was surpassing the West as a world power. He described the move to encircle China as insanity. China would not be intimidated.

The billions wasted on submarines should be spent on building an Australian strategic shipping fleet

WARREN SMITH

China was expanding its economic reach via its ambitious Belt and Road global infrastructure plan and the US had no way to counter this, Chomsky said – “unless the US self-destructs by going to war.”

“A US-China war means game over,” Chomsky said. “Both countries should cooperate or they will collapse together and bring the world down with them.”

At a time of pandemic crisis when teachers and nurses were struggling with many other front-line workers, spending billions on nuclear submarines was outrageous, Smith reported to the monthly meetings.

“It brings no benefit to the Australian people and makes us a military target,” he said.

Speaking on the steps of Sydney Town Hall at a rally in December, Smith stressed workers and unions were already under attack.

“There is a war being waged and it is

being waged on us,” he said. “It a war on workers and we need to fight back.”

Smith said there was nothing more important for workers and their families than peace and secure jobs.

“The reality is there are more jobs in renewable energy, health and education than there will ever be in war,” he told the Town Hall rally. “There are 41.7% more jobs in building clean energy than in war, you get 120% more jobs in education than you do in war, there’s 42% more jobs in building infrastructure, not bombing it.” (Source – “Job Opportunity Cost of War”, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, 2017)

The lyrics to the UK rock band Black Sabbath song “War Pigs” sums it up, Murphy said: “Politicians hide themselves away. They only started the war. Why should they go out to fight, they leave that to the poor.”

“Our long history has shown us that it is workers who die in wars fought for the interests of bosses and corporations,” said Smith, recalling the 1 in 8 seafarers who died in WWII, and the 24 waterside workers who died in the Japanese bombing of Darwin.

With nuclear war everyone dies. •