Greens rally against ABCC
15 June 2010 - Greens members joined with unionists in a 2000 strong rally today backing Ark Tribe, the South Australian construction worker who has fallen foul of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
The ABCC, which has been likened to a secret police targeting construction workers, can send a worker to gaol for attending a
workplace safety meeting.
This is what happened to Ark who has had the courage to publicly expose what the Commission is doing to him.
Ark's stand is incredibly important, as he has outed the Commission's cohesive powers that mean those interrogated cannot pick their legal team or discuss the secret investigations they are subjected to.
I met Ark at the Sydney May Day rally and he is doing a great job travelling around the country building support for the abolition of
the ABCC.
The rallies being held around the country are an embarrassing reminder of the Labor government's failure to toss out the ABCC, a leftover of the Howard government years.
It was set up with the clear intent of targeting the CFMEU and driving down wages and conditions for construction workers. And who does that benefit, some of the biggest corporations in town.
Senator Rachel Siewert moved in the federal parliament to abolish the ABCC. Labor and the Coalition voted to defeat the Greens bill.
Labor should commit now that after the coming federal election when the Greens and Labor should have the numbers in the Senate that they will immediately move to abolish the ABCC.
Lee Rhiannon is the Greens NSW IR spokesperson.
