Fed: Union leader says ALP looking for scapegoat for election

AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2001
Fed: Union leader says ALP looking for scapegoat for election

CANBERRA, Dec 5 AAP - Calls for reform of the Labor Party's relationship with unions
showed the party was looking for a scapegoat for its election loss, a key union leader
said today.

Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon yesterday became the latest MP to speak out about
union influence, calling for the party to dump rules forcing ALP members to belong to
a union.

Opposition Leader Simon Crean has promised to review the ALP's links to the union movement.

But Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary John
Maitland said factions also had to bear some of the blame for the election loss.

"I think there's a lack of discipline at the present time and that in the wash-up to
the defeat they're thrashing around looking for who may have contributed to what was a
very disappointing outcome," he told ABC radio.

"The funny thing about this is that a lot of the commentary from within the Labor Party
is actually coming from the factional heavyweights.

"My view is that there ought to be a commitment by the people who are making the comments
to examine the attitude, the effect, the influence that their own factions had on the
election outcome."

Mr Maitland said he had no (no) objection to reviewing the 60-40 rule, which gives
unions the most votes at state and federal conferences, but there was no point in changing
the union membership rules.

"There's nothing wrong with the Labor Party encouraging people to be members of trade
unions. After all, that's one of workers' fundamental rights and that's a right that's
been under attack," he said.

"Why remove it when it is essentially encouraging people to participate in one of workers'
fundamental rights?"

Labor's national executive meets next week to consider the union issue and an internal
report on the reasons behind the party's election defeat.

AAP kmh/las

KEYWORD: LABOR MAITLAND

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