What will disaffiliation from the Labor Party achieve for the ETU?

Unions such as the ETU need to consider how to rectify this unsatisfactory situation.

One way or another, unions such as the ETU should assert their right to have representatives, who are prepared to act in the interests of members, elected to Parliament. If the ETU sees no prospect of this being achieved by using its voice within the Labor Party, then it should seek to initiate the formation of such a party outside the Labor Party.

However to simply disaffiliate, but do nothing else, is likely to do little to dissuade the Bligh Government from pursuing its current course.

As much as Labor politicians enjoy the fruits of office, many act as if they consider losing office a lesser evil to actually representing the Labor Party's constituency and standing up to corporate interests. They seem to act as if confident that other at least equally lucrative careers will be offered to them by a grateful corporate sector should they lose government. So even the threat of damaging Labor's electoral prospects may do little to change the mind of Rudd and Bligh and, in fact, could backfire on the ETU if it were to result in the election of Coalition governments in the mould of the former Howard government.

The ETU and other unions, such as the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), who are disaffected by the government's policies should loudly demand that the Bligh Government begin to act to serve its electoral constituency. If they did, it is hard to conceive how their voices would not resonate with the rank and file of the Labor Party and other trade unions.

If some of the other unions, who are currently not affiliated to the Labor Party, including teachers' unions and various public sector unions, were to affiliate there would be every reason to hope that the forces in the Labor Party who are prepared to insist that Labor govern in accord with its original purpose, would prevail.

Whether or not this course is pursued, an effective political voice for the trade union movement, whether it comes from within the current Labor Party or without, needs to be re-established.