ACTU Congress Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Forum 2024

Abstract

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the peak body for Australian unions, which is made up of 38 affiliated unions, who together represent approximately 1.8 million workers, their families and their communities. Every three years the ACTU holds its congress. Congress is ‘effectively a parliament for working people, where delegates debate and vote on policies regarding the workplace, rights, and campaigns to improve wages, conditions and quality of life for Australian workers and their families’ (ACTU, 2024). As the ACTU's highest decision-making authority, congress sets the union agenda for the next three years

Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer is a saltwater woman with family ties to Garigal, Awabakal, Darug, Wiradyuri peoples with strong family ties to country.

This article was written on the unceded sovereign lands of the Gubbi Gubbi, and Bunurong Peoples. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present, and to all Aboriginal Peoples for whom these lands are significant. I also pay my respect to my Ancestors and Elders who have paved the way for me and to whom I am accountable to.

Positioning myself within this report, I am the National Tertiary Education Union's (NTEU) representative on the ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee. I am an Aboriginal academic at the University of Queensland where I research and teach in the areas of Employment Relations and Closing the Gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage in Employment and Education. I speak from my Aboriginal standpoint in this paper. My positioning highlights the way the ACTU empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates within the union's structure. Within this committee, I represent all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NTEU members.

Introduction

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the peak body for Australian unions, which is made up of 38 affiliated unions, who together represent approximately 1.8 million workers, their families and their communities. Every three years the ACTU holds its congress. Congress is ‘effectively a parliament for working people, where delegates debate and vote on policies regarding the workplace, rights, and campaigns to improve wages, conditions and quality of life for Australian workers and their families’ (ACTU, 2024). As the ACTU's highest decision-making authority, congress sets the union agenda for the next three years.

At each ACTU congress, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caucus is held prior to the opening of congress. The purpose of the caucus is to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates to meet before the formal proceedings of congress and to address crucial matters for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates. In the past, around 20–30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates have attended caucus meetings.

This year, the Inaugural ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Congress Forum was held on the day prior to the main congress. All affiliated unions were encouraged to send Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates to this forum. Around 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates attended. The Forum, developed in conjunction with the ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander committee, consisted of a full day of workshops and plenaries that aimed to empower delegates to drive the policies of the ACTU when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander matters.

Congress Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Forum

On 3 June 2024, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander union members gathered on Tarntanya (Adelaide) for the Forum. The official Welcome to Country was performed by Cliffy ‘Tangku Munaitya’ Wilson, a Kaurna, Narungga, Ngarrindjeri, Ngadjuri and Arrente Man, and Traditional Owner.

After the Welcome to Country, Jo Kerr, the Chair of the ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee, acknowledged all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates in the room and set the scene for what to expect for the day, noting the only non-Indigenous people in the room where those working for the ACTU and the venue and confirming that this was a safe space for us to do our union business. In addition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates, there was a Māori union contingent who were invited to share stories about what is happening across the ‘ditch’.

The opening plenary was attended by Michele O’Neil (President) and Sally McManus (Secretary). Michele O’Neil welcomed everyone to the first official event of the ACTU Congress 2024 noting that it was ‘entirely right that it's the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Forum’. O’Neil stressed the importance of the Forum, as the outcomes will be ‘critical to and shape the debates and decisions’ that congress will make over the coming week, and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unionists ‘are the beating heart’ of the union movement (O’Neil, 2024).

Acknowledging that truth telling is important, O’Neil admitted that the union movement has not always got it right when it came to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander matters, outlining epic struggles such as ‘fighting for wage justice, against discrimination and racist conditions and for land rights’. And she acknowledged that there has also been resistance to change, racism and entrenched exclusion from the union movement. At the 1963 Congress, eight different unions and labour councils put forward policies in support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, which passed unanimously. Following that Congress, according to O’Neil, ‘the ACTUs support and solidarity was critical for building momentum for the holding of the referendum and the successful YES vote in 1967’ ¹ (O’Neil, 2024).

O’Neil then spoke about the 2023 Referendum noting that ‘67% of union members voted yes’ for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and it was union comrades all over the country that stood beside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the fight. But we all know that result … O’Neil acknowledged the pain and anger that was felt and pledged to stand with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, ‘ready for what comes next, because we don’t walk away when things get tough’ (O’Neil, 2024). This is when solidarity matters the most.

In closing, O’Neil thanked the work of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander committee of the ACTU and vowed to use the union's bargaining power to change Australia from the racist country it is, noting there was much more work to be done in this space. Sally McManus stood by Michele in solidarity, not wanting to hold the day up with another speech but expressed solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members and workers. The opening address created a sense of excitement amongst the delegates in the room and set the tone for the rest of the day.

The first session on the Importance of First Nations Voices consisted of a panel session and workshop. Panellist included Kyam Maher, the South Australian Attorney-General and Minister for Indigenous Affairs who spoke about how South Australia (SA) had passed legislation for a 12-person state Voice to Parliament. Within the SA legislation, the elected voice representatives can attend Cabinet meetings, attend and speak in the parliament. The next stages for SA are truth telling and treaty. Mike Tana, Public Service Association New Zealand (PSANZ), spoke on how they are taking on a hostile government that is attacking workers in New Zealand and how Māori workers are fighting for their jobs. A delegate from Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Ash Rose, spoke of how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to culturally appropriate and replicate Indigenous arts breaching protocols and posing a massive threat to First Nations Artists. Rose said that AI is a form of ‘technological colonisation’ and called on unions to lobby to protect our sovereignty. The workshop that followed this session focused on ‘What do we need to do to be heard in our unions’.

The second session, Bargaining Up, centred around what various unions are doing in Enterprise Bargaining. Wayne Kurnorth and Mandy Dewey, from the United Workers Union (UWU) presented on their bargaining claims, wins and aspirations, which included language allowance within Queensland for teacher aids. The UWU delegates shared a motion they were taking to the Congress floor to include Kinship and cultural leave in the National Employment Standards (NES). UWU asked for forum to support this motion, which was carried unanimously. I presented on the NTEU bargaining wins, such as paid Cultural Leave in 100% of enterprise agreements (EA), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment targets in 100% of agreements, language allowance in 32% and cultural load in 72% of agreements. Bargaining in the NTEU is driven by its representative structure and the treaty that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have with the union (Leroy-Dyer, 2023). Professor Nareen Young spoke about the Gari Yala – Speak the Truth: Centering the experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at Work report, which is based on a survey of over 1000 Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander workers, that revealed Indigenous employees experiences significant racism, exclusion and lack of cultural safety within Australian workplaces that impacts wellbeing and job satisfaction (Brown et al., 2020). In the subsequent workshop from this session, delegates were asked the question ‘What bargaining priorities are important to your members’.

Session three, ‘Anti-Racism is Union Business’ heard from Debbie Morgan-Frail from the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the ACTU Work, Health and Safety (WHS) Educator, David Smithwick, around how racism is a psychosocial hazard in the workplace. The question posed to delegates was ‘why is Anti-racism union business’. Anti-racism was framed around First Nations workers’ rights and lived experience in a colonial system, not an equity, diversity and inclusion issue (Henry and Leroy-Dyer, 2024). Within a colonialist employment framework adopted in Australia, workplace racism affects the lives of workers and their families, causing exclusion, poor mental health and is endemic (Brown et al., 2020; O’Loughlin et al., 2022). Smithwick spoke to delegates around ensuring that health and safety representatives (HRS) report racism as they would any other hazard, to the workplace and to the regulator. The workshop discussion then turned to fighting to have racism included in the ‘Model Codes of Practice’ under the model WHS Act and Regulations. A motion was also drafted to go to Congress to include how to recognise racism and psychosocial hazards in WHS delegate training.

The next session ‘First Nations Capacity Building and Campaigns’ featured speakers from NTEU, Celeste Liddle, Finance Sector Union (FSU), Adam Fletcher and PSANZ, Janice Panoho, Virgil Iraia and Leslie Dixon. The PSANZ comrades spoke how the new NZ government has been implementing an agenda divisive to Māori, with no engagement with Indigenous leaders or communities, has attacked the Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty), removed Te Reo Māori names from Public Service agencies, has stopped Te Reo and cultural training for public servants, removed Māori specialist roles and projects and funding that delivers to Māori communities, and is removing the new Māori Healthcare System, by Māori for Māori kaupapa and the government's commitment for improved outcomes for tamariki Māori. Comrades spoke about the challenges Māori face in the colonial system and how the focus needs to be centred on Sovereignty.

The FSU delegate spoke about using financial resources to exert pressure for banks to work better in the climate action space and the need for unions to exert industrial pressure to push this as part of their bargaining agenda. The NTEU delegate spoke on how the NTEU combines activism and industrial power to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment conditions in EAs, which has resulted in a tripling of staffing numbers since 2002, provided for Cultural leave, Language Allowance, Indigeneity as a genuine occupational qualification for example. All of these have stemmed out of community and member activism, stressing there was power in collectivism and strength in numbers. In the workshop following this session, delegates were asked to workshop ‘What steps need to be taken to break down colonial barriers within union structures so Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices are not only heard, but we have self-determination on the issues that matter to us including having the resources to lead those campaigns’.

The final session of the forum centred around ‘First Nations Leadership’ where conference delegates came together to discuss the outcomes from the workshops throughout the day and to decide on the three priorities that were considered most important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates. We also heard from the co-convenors of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) Runanga, the Māori branch of the NZCTU, Grant Williams, and Laura Park, who spoke on the importance of culture, how it gives us strength to take on the work we do as First Nations union members in advocating for the working rights of First Nations workers. Grant then ended the day teaching delegates in the room a Māori union song which was sung loud and proud.

These three priorities were informed by the themes of each session to be put forward to Congress for endorsement as priorities moving forward. The three priorities decided on were: (1) lobbying for 10 days of cultural and ceremonial leave in the NES, (2) recognition of Kinship systems in awards and EAs and (3) having racism recognised as a Psychosocial hazard by Safe Work Australia and training for WHS delegates.

The three priorities were presented to the ACTU executive and other union leaders at a ‘fringe’ event following the Forum. The fringe event was organised to get union leaders and delegates engaged in the work of the ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee and the First Nations Workers Alliance. Attendance exceeded expectations with over a 1000 attendees, who were asked to pledge to support eliminating racist and punitive employment programmes, negotiating cultural clauses in their agreements, anti-racism as union business, to support the First Nations Workers Alliance and to nominate a representative on the ACTU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee.

These priorities were well received by the union leaders in attendance and now form a major part of the ACTU's work and its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee. Throughout the ACTU Congress, attendees were encouraged to join the First Nations Workers Alliance to support its vital work and union members were and are invited to join by clicking on this link https://www.fnwa.org.au/.