The Agenda for Progressive Labor

• The Secretary's Desk
• 3rd April 2017

 As Unions, there is far more that unites us than drives us apart.  The ideological divide between right and left within the ALP is narrow, and encompasses few if any issues that resonate as core Union principles.

 As Unions we believe that the needs of our members must always be our first priority.

For our members we seek well paid, secure and safe employment, dignity and security in retirement, and the ability to participate as full citizens of our society. These are proper and worthy goals for which to strive.

 As proud Unionists, we pay respect to the generations of men and women who went before us in the Union movement and who helped to create an equitable and prosperous society.

We believe that Unions have a fundamental role to play in ensuring that society continues to uphold the values of equity, respect and tolerance.

We also believe that Unions, through their work in raising wages and conditions, contribute to a vibrant middle class and as a result, a fairer and more powerful economy.

 And so we have determined to dismantle the factions which divide us and come together to further our cause.

To cast aside the symbolic divisions of the past and unite within the ALP to help ensure that creating employment in this state, in new industries, using new technologies and with breadth of vision, remains the priority.

To ensure that workers share in the economic rewards generated by growth.

To ensure vigilance in the areas of workplace safety, compensation for injured workers and freedom of association.

To work within the ALP to keep our members’ interests and the interests of the working class directly in the line of sight of its parliamentarians.

To those parliamentarians we simply say this: we have no interest in your factional alignments, we simply seek your commitment to progressing the interests of working people, a goal that we say must always remain central to ALP thinking. 

To our Union members we say this: we welcome your involvement in your Union and its activities in the ALP.

We believe in democracy and so we do not seek to dictate how you vote within the ALP.  Instead we will present to you the reasoned arguments for our position on matters affecting our Unions, and then trust to your good judgment.

Above all, we as proud Unionists commit to working together within the ALP for the benefit of Union members who are, after all, the very reason we exist.