About GWUFriends, on Tuesday the Victorian Government introduced the “Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill”. This bill is far broader than a crackdown on “fake unions”. It targets associations with an “industrial relations purpose”, and therefore risks shutting down worker-led groups whose whole purpose is to organise, educate and protect people at work.
This is a political choice, and its no wonder that the union which installed Ben Carroll, the SDA, stands to benefit the most. Instead of competing with values first, worker-led organising on the merits, the response is to change the rules so smaller groups focused on workplace rights can be refused incorporation, and existing ones wound up.
Workers absolutely deserve real union protection. But that does not justify laws so broad they can be used against grassroots workplace groups, rank-and-file caucuses, campaign organisations and worker associations that are trying to do what failed institutions have not: help workers defend themselves.
If the Government’s target is genuinely scam unions, then the law should be tightly drafted to target scams, deception and misrepresentation. It should not give Consumer Affairs Victoria a broad power to block or dissolve incorporated associations simply because they exist to further, protect or represent workers’ industrial interests.
Grill’d workers need more organising, not less. This Bill makes our task vastly more difficult, and we oppose it. Please consider supporting the campaign against it.