Ben Courtice http://home.connexus.net.au/~benj
--------------------------------------- Subject: [RAC] RAC, Ruddock and workers
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 01:26:07 +0000
From: piergiorgio moro <pier_moro at hotmail.com>
To: Ausnews at yahoogroups.com, leftlink at vicnet.net.au, RacVic at topica.com
Today, 6/6/02, there is an article in The Age, a Melbourne newspaper, that reports on an attack by Mr Philip Ruddock on the Refugee Action Collective – Vic (RAC) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Victoria.
The article quotes Mr Ruddock as saying ‘ .RAC is an organization that believes that anyone who arrives in Australia should be allowed into the community, where they can take the low paid jobs that are often used to get the unemployed back into the workforce.’ He then questions as to why the CFMEU would support RAC as it is an organization that supports people that ‘ take the very jobs that the unions say they’re there to protect.’
This attack by the minister of Immigration and Aboriginal Affairs is another example of ‘doublespeak’ and an attempt to turn one marginalised group against another one.
The present Liberal government, with its nationalist and scapegoating agenda, is once again trying to find ‘an easy target’ to channel people’s anger into and away from their own anti worker and divisive politics.
RAC would like to take this opportunity to restate its total opposition to mandatory detention and to state that all detention centres should be closed.
RAC works in partnership with many other marginalised sectors in our society and sees the working class movement as not only allies but an integral part in the fight against racist scapegoating, and, for refugee rights. Thus, the CFMEU as one of the more progressive unions in Victoria has been very supportive of RAC and the rights of refugees.
Workers are part of RAC and many activists in RAC have, and are, involved in the workers movement in the fight against exploitation, better wages, better conditions, and the right for workers to organise and defend their rights. Therefore, not only does RAC stand on the same side as low paid workers in their quest to improve their conditions, but we fully support the CFMEU against the politically motivated attacks of the Cole Royal Commission.
This attack by Mr. Ruddock is just another example of this government’s ploy of scapegoating marginalised groups by playing on people’s fears and suffering. It is not the refugees/asylum seekers that cause unemployment, but it is this economic system that is based on creating ever greater profits for the few, that is the real cause of the poverty and unemployment present in Australia.
We stand united against these attacks - our strength is our unity.
In solidarity PM