In 1890, Australia and New Zealand were paralyzed by a strike. 50,000 workers in Australia and a further 10,000 in New Zealand shut down ports, mines, and railways. While the unions were defeated, for the first time the ruling class stood face to face with a new social force which […]
unions
19 posts
On 12 August, Ben Carroll and the Victorian Labor Government set the wheels in motion for a legislative attack on RAFFWU. Perhaps we should have seen this coming but it was a shock to me to see a media release announcing the introduction of the Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill […]
In Australia we can learn a lot from Labor Notes and their approach to discussion and organising. This year I had the pleasure of attending the biannual Labor Notes conference in Chicago from Thursday June 11 to Sunday June 14, 2026. Labor Notes is a US-based training organisation and network […]
Isaac deserved to live in the world he believed in, the world he fought for—the world without classes, without government, without the bosses and cops and bureaucrats and everything else our species is presently saddled with. It is because of people like him that all of this can be more than just a dream. It is because of people like him that it can be a reality.
The Nazis might find confidence in their isolated fight clubs and men’s retreats, but we can find our confidence in the multicultural working class that actually makes this country run.
One of the most distinctive aspects of anarchism is its anti-electoralism. When the doctrine was first coming together in the 19th century, our hostility to parliaments and electoral socialism was one of our key defining traits. Against both revolutionary and reformist social-democrats, anarchists argued for direct action and class organisation […]
The Albanese Labor government has done a deal with the Liberals to pass legislation aimed at destroying the CFMEU. Make no mistake, the government’s CFMEU Act is a plan to kill a union. The strongest argument against this law is this: take a look at what is in it. The […]
Chris Oliver argues that left-wing activists should focus less on shallow mobilisation and protest, and more on deep, long-term organising. A few years ago I was involved in protesting outside a café in Sydney alongside a backpacker who’d previously worked there. The backpacker had been paid below the minimum wage […]
Every so often the question of co-operatives is raised in the revolutionary socialist movement. Optimistic positions suggest that co-ops can form the basis for replacing capitalism with a new economy based on solidarity and labour where workers have ‘control’ and even suggest they are a vital part of revolutionary strategy. […]
How should anarchists, concerned with rebuilding a fighting movement of the working class, organise today? As anarchists, we recognise that our fight against the bosses isn’t made through elections, or in parliament, but at work. We have power when we organise with our co-workers, take action which disrupts the ability […]
“The myth of Nin or Durruti is of no use to us at all, whereas their shortcomings and mistakes are useful, because they teach us something. The myths of yesterday are the chains of today; to reveal their errors allows us to advance beyond the point where they failed.” Agustin […]
This article was originally published as ‘The Burning Issue’ in The Anvil vol. 11, no. 4. Each year, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases. Polar ice melts to an unprecedented degree. The Great Barrier Reef suffers worse and more frequent bleaching events. Droughts lengthen. Record breaking floods […]