Racism is a union issue

Celeste Liddle, National A&TSI Organiser

ACTU Indigenous Conference & Organising Conference 2020

On 16 November, the ACTU held its Indigenous Conference online with attendees present from most of the affiliate unions.

There was a large contingent of NTEU Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander members and staff who presented sessions, gave addresses and answered crucial questions on a wide variety of topics.

The Indigenous Conference featured a welcome, a keynote and four different workshops which were run multiple times so attendees could attend them all. Of particular note was the session 'Racism is a Union Issue'. This featured Adam Frogley, NTEU National A&TSI Director with Nareen Young, Industry Professor at Jumbunna Institute of Education and Research. Both panellists revealed findings of surveys on the racism and discrimination A&TSI workers still experience in the workplace.

I'm Not A Racist, But...

Starting with the two reports the NTEU has done based on member surveys – I'm not a racist, but… (2011) and I'm still not a racist, but… (2018) – Adam Frogley took attendees through the distressing levels of racism and discrimination, lack of cultural respect and lateral violence reported by A&TSI people working within the university sector. It was particularly noted that in the 7 years between the two reports, the situation had actually gotten worse on campus.

These findings were further reinforced by Nareen Young's presentation of the Gari Yala (Speak The Truth) report which was launched on the same day as the Conference. In this report, based again on survey responses, it was found that 44% had experienced racial slurs in their workplace, 39% had reported being treated unfairly due to their background, and a staggering 59% had experienced comments based on their appearance which others in their workplace deemed not 'looking' Aboriginal enough, or 'being pretty for an Aboriginal person'. All this leads to a negative workplace experience and it's crucial that workplaces educate and adjust their practices.

Black Lives Matter

Sharlene Leroy-Dyer, Acting Chair of the NTEU A&TSI Policy Committee, anchored a panel on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in Australia which featured Ashley Rose (FSU) and Celeste Liddle (NTEU). Ash Rose spoke of lobbying the various unions in NSW to support a BLM statement which would in turn commit them to a series of actions to educate members and agitate as unions for the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, amongst other things. This multiple union statement then was sent on to the NSW Government to lobby them to make changes.

Celeste spoke about the BLM movement more broadly – its origins online and then in riots following the deaths of two African-American men in 2014; its resurrection in 2016 in the lead-up to the US election and the global solidarity movements; and then the rallies this year. Celeste spoke of the continual issues trying to get the Australian public to recognise the parallels in Australia with things such as deaths in custody and the continual high incarceration of Indigenous peoples. There is a need for people to become more educated and interested in what is happening domestically, as over 440 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have died since the Royal Commission findings were handed down. Change remains painfully slow whilst families continue to grieve.

A session on Voice, Treaty, Truth, along with another on A&TSI people advancing in jobs was held. All sessions were repeated for the ACTU Organising Conference and were deemed highly successful.