SDA leadership lashes out
The Queensland branch of the retail and fast food workers’ union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), has taken yet another step to clamp down on dissent among its members following a threatened electoral challenge to the branch’s top official.
The dismissal of organiser Alan Swetman sparked the campaign. Swetman had outed the union’s links to the reactionary Ambrose Centre for Religious Liberty. He also exposed the lengths to which the SDA goes to ensure that its entire officialdom subscribes to conservative ideology. Understandably, many members are revolted by the idea that our union’s leadership is an exclusive club for people who oppose abortion rights, marriage equality and voluntary euthanasia.
From the outset it has been clear that the SDA leaders intended to prevent such information becoming common knowledge. The crusade by the officialdom has heated up.
First, the union successfully appealed an Electoral Commission decision deeming Swetman a valid candidate in union elections. With nominations now closed, this means that there will be no contest.
Next, I was informed that I have been dismissed as a union representative in my workplace. My union organiser, Tony Stapleton, rang me on 18 June after I had inquired about the next shop stewards’ meeting. He informed me that he had removed me from my position as shop steward because I had labelled the union “weak” and raised disagreements with the latest enterprise agreement the SDA had signed with my employer, a large retailer.
I stand by that comment. Only a decade ago the situation for retail employees was demonstrably better in terms of job security and living standards. We need a union whose method is not to sign deals with employers to get coverage in an industry, but one that sees organising workers to fight for their rights as the priority.
The SDA’s actions are beyond appalling. They say that the condition under which someone is entitled to be a rank and file representative – someone supposed to fight for the rights of their members – is that they line up with the leadership on a tame cat approach to unionism, tell members to swallow rotten deals and stay quiet about the gross abuse of members’ dues in pursuit of bigoted social conservatism.
