Unions' power closely watched

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This was published 13 years ago

Unions' power closely watched

By Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie

AUSTRALIAN union bosses hold ''powerful sway'' over ministers and have ''disproportionate influence'' over the federal government via backroom deals, according to confidential United States cables.

The cables reveal that senior union leaders have privately briefed US officials about how they use their influence over the Labor Party to shape federal government policies, including those on climate change.

The cables, sent to Washington from US diplomatic posts in Canberra and Melbourne and released to The Age by WikiLeaks, also reveal the close watch American officials keep on the union movement.

The cables state that:

■ Right-wing unions ''wield considerable influence'' among senior ministers and cultivate ''a robust stable'' of MPs.

■ Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson claimed that ''she and other union secretaries wield at least as much influence as junior state ministers … by controlling who is elected to Parliament''.

■ Labor parliamentary secretary Richard Marles told a US envoy about his ''close relationship'' with unions and that ''the ACTU uses his office in Canberra when Parliament is sitting''.

The cables, which draw mostly on briefings from union leaders in Victoria in 2009, examine the backroom power of various unions aligned to the Labor Right faction.

''Victorian right-of-centre unions maintain a powerful sway over federal and state ministers by engaging in backroom diplomacy, funding political campaigns and grooming future MPs,'' one cable, dated August 2009, states. It says unions ''continue to play a significant role in the formulation of national policies that can impact the United States''.

Australian Workers Union Victorian boss Cesar Melhem is quoted saying the AWU used a ''well-researched and backroom policy'' to influence the government's handling of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

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Mr Melhem is also recorded telling how the ''the AWU works diligently to place its own members in parliamentary positions, both at state and federal levels. This includes Bill Shorten.''

The US officials who wrote the cables repeatedly refer to the manner in which Labor MPs are nominated and promoted due to their union ties and factional standing.

A 2007 cable describes how Kevin Rudd dealt with the election to Parliament of union leaders Greg Combet and Bill Shorten. ''Rudd has done only what he had to do, giving the parliamentary secretary positions in recognition of their former positions,'' the cable states, referring to expectations they might get more senior roles.

Mr Marles, a former ACTU assistant secretary who is reviewed warmly in the cable, is quoted saying he suspected his role in mending a rift within his Victorian ALP faction played a role in his promotion to parliamentary secretary.

The National Union of Workers tells US officials that the key to gaining influence ''is the ability to effectively marshal union membership to support ALP candidates''.

The cable also refers to the declining power of left-leaning unions over Labor, an observation drawn partly through briefings from CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan and Victorian secretary Bill Oliver, both described as ''capable leaders''.

The CFMEU complained that it had ''no access'' to the then Victorian cabinet, ''including the state minister specifically designated to interface with labor unions''.

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''The CFMEU utilizes a much more public and antagonistic form of lobbying. This characteristic has led … Julia Gillard and other ALP officials to publicly distance themselves from the CFMEU,'' the cable says.

In contrast, Right union leaders are described as ''dynamic and forward thinking … Unionized workers represent almost 20 per cent of the Australian work force yet hold disproportionate political influence in federal and Victorian politics''.

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