Off With Their Heads! A Tale of two Unions in Administration

Annie presents an analysis of the political ecosystem in which our unions exist, including the peak body (ACTU) and the Labor party, which was borne from the need to represent working class interests in parliament. She presents two case studies of unions that have been put into administration, with a focus on Labor Party political outcomes vs unions' core business - members' wages and conditions. We begin with a mini-review of the CFMEU Construction & General Division administration saga, since special legislation passed both houses of Parliament in August 2024 after a sustained legacy media smear campaign. The Red Queen approach of dismantling the CFMEU's core business via 'removed persons' in its delegate-organiser structure may be party of a larger politic, at the low cost of workers' lives and livelihoods.Next, recapping the cutthroat Game-of-Thrones style administration of the HSU/HWU and fear and loathing responses of some of the lowest-paid workers in that industry to a politicking leadership which landed the union in administration by June 2025. And in a whirlwind finale, we hear from HWU organisers, members, and supporters rallying in front of Parliament on 4 December as part of their 'Stand Together, Win Together' campaign, the culmination of months of hard work - a David and Goliath fight not just for wages n conds, but for the life of their union.