Episode 6 Building and Sustaining Power
Masterclass for Activists
History has been changed by building power, and there’s power in drawing upon the lessons of history. This podcast discusses power, what it is, why it’s important to analyse and understand it, and how to build it.
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Episode 3 Strategy for Success
Masterclass for Activists
Episode 3 Strategy for Success discusses how to design and execute a winning strategy.
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Episode 5 The winning strategy that built Australia’s safety net
Masterclass for Activists
Australia’s safety net is the envy of the world: the highest minimum wage; a world-class health system; the only compulsory universal superannuation system. These towering reforms are the legacy of a 1983 Accord between the ACTU and ALP that was globally unprecedented in its vision and scope, a philosophy that repudiated neoliberalism, and a strategy that overcame the economic crisis and changed capitalism forever. How was this possible and how was it done? A compelling episode about a remarkable story.
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Episode 4 Mindful Militancy
Masterclass for Activists
In this episode about Mindful Militants, our panel is Lisa Fitzpatrick, Doug Cameron and Tom McDonald discussing the role of militant tactics in pioneering social change.
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Bonus episode - Women Leading the ACTU
Masterclass for Activists
A bonus episode Women Leading the ACTU with more of our conversation from Ep 3 & hear about how equal representation for women on the ACTU Executive was won. Whilst as Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary says, there remains more to be done, the achievement of equal male and female representation on the ACTU Executive, won more than two decades ago, demonstrates the power of values, strategy & tactics in making change for the better.
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Episode 2 Neoliberalism and a New Deal
Masterclass for Activists
Episode 2 Neoliberalism and a New Deal unpacks the strategy of neoliberalism to wind back workers’ rights and living standards and weaken our democracy. It also discusses how the CoVid19 pandemic has dramatically exposed the failings of neoliberalism and looks to the future by discussing what a new deal for working people should look like.
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Episode 1 Hearts and Minds
Masterclass for Activists
Hearts and Minds discusses values, their place and role in driving change, how to counter right-wing populists and shock jocks, and how to win the support of working people for the cause of building a fairer Australia.
info_outlineBefore 1983 no woman had ever been elected to the Executive of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). In 1995, Jennie George became the first woman ACTU President and was followed by Sharan Burrow, Ged Kearney and Michelle O’Neil.
In Episode 3 Strategy for Success, Sally McManus and Bill Kelty, the current and former ACTU secretaries, joined union elder Tom McDonald and our host Emeritus Professor Ed Davis to discuss how to design and execute winning campaigns. They discussed how strategy is the art of building power and tactics the stepping-stones to success.
In this bonus episode Women Leading the ACTU we share more of our conversation from Episode 3 and hear about what it took to win equal representation for women on the ACTU Executive. While, as Sally says, there remains more to be done in improving women’s representation in leadership across the union movement, the achievement of equal male and female representation on the ACTU Executive, won more than two decades ago, demonstrates the power of values, strategy and tactics in making change for the better.
This episode also stars Chloe and Jason Roweth performing Don’t Be Too Polite Girls (words by Glen Tomasetti to the traditional tune of Flash Jack from Gundagai). Find out more about the Roweths’ music here.
Learn more about many of the great struggles of the Australian labour and women’s movements and what it took to win in Dare to Dream, the memoirs of Tom and Audrey McDonald, whose inspiration is behind the creation of this Masterclass series.
This podcast series has been produced by Deliberately Engaging in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to build the capabilities of civil society and give people a greater voice. Discover our podcasts here.
This podcast has been made possible by the support of the Committee to Defend Trade Unions Rights, Tony and Nina Bleasdale, our discussants and musicians, and the ACTU.