General Meeting - The Accord: Visionary Strategy or Corporatist Gimmick?

Sun Jun 20 2021 at 02:00 pm

The Box Factory | Adelaide

General Meeting - The Accord: Visionary Strategy or Corporatist Gimmick?
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Program:
Daren McDonald will unpack the philosophy and strategy behind the Left’s backing of the 1983 Accord and provide insights to some of the key dynamics, struggles and challenges of its implementation.
Barbara Pocock will address the positive and negative effects of the Accord on women workers and touch on the culture which then permeated the labour movement.
Ralph Clarke and Tony Evans will provide short commentaries on the presentations and observations of the Accord from the perspective of trade unions.
Following an hour of audience questions, comments and debates, Victoria Fielding will sum up the day’s discussions.
Speaker Bios:
Emeritus Professor Barbara Pocock AM is a distinguished scholar of industrial relations. She founded and was director of the Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia between 2006 and 2014. Barbara has been an advisor to various governments and worked at the Reserve Bank. Professor Pocock is currently a Greens candidate for the Senate in South Australia. She has a strong interest in the Accord, including its impact on women workers.
Daren McDonald is a lifelong socialist, trade unionist, peace and anti-apartheid activist. As a student, union organiser and then federal industrial officer he was a close observer of many of the Accord’s key moments since a special left unions conference backed it in 1982. His honours thesis was the first serious analysis of whether the Accord was corporatism, or a viable working-class strategy and he has since lectured on the Accord, including to the ANC in 2014. He is the creator of the popular new Masterclass of Activists podcast series–the latest episode labour legends reflect on the Accord’s strategy and legacy. Daren is the editor and facilitator of several labour histories, including–More than a Hat and Glove Brigade (1996), Intimate Union (1998), Dare to Dream (2016) and Man on a Mission (2019).
Ralph Clarke was at the time of the Accord, Secretary of the Federated Clerks’ Union and subsequently involved in the Australian Services Union. He was also the South Australian Trades and Labour Council representative on the powerful ACTU industrial legislation committee. Ralph was the member for Ross Smith between 1993 and 2002.
Tony Evans is a socialist and political activist who enjoyed a celebrated career in the AMWSU as a trade union official, delegate.
Dr Victoria Fielding Dr Victoria Fielding is a labour activist, prolific commentator on politics, industrial, environmental and social justice issues and media expert. She teaches communication, media and journalism at UniSA and Adelaide University, and writes on topics as varied as structural media bias in news reporting of industrial, political and social contestation and the influence of mining tax narratives on mainstream news media. She is active in many progressive organisations, including the Labor Party, the NTEU and the Labour History Society.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Box Factory, 59 Regent Street South, Adelaide, SA, Australia 5000, Australia

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