A meeting of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) on Friday unanimously passed a resolution in support of the SEP’s campaign to defeat the anti-democratic electoral laws rushed through parliament last month.

The new legislation seeks to deregister political parties that do not have a member of parliament. This would mean they could not run under their party name on ballot papers during federal elections.

In addition to tripling the membership requirement, the laws grant the Australian Electoral Commission the power to determine which parties have the basic democratic right to include widely used words such as “socialist” or “communist” in their party names.

The PWRFC calls on all workers to join the campaign to defeat these anti-democratic laws and become an electoral member of the SEP today. Attend the SEP’s public online meeting this Sunday, September 19, to discuss how you can take this campaign forward. Click here to register for the meeting.

The resolution states:

This meeting of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee endorses the campaign launched by the Socialist Equality Party and joins them in calling on the working class to defeat the new anti-democratic electoral laws rushed through parliament on August 26.

Under the laws, parties not currently holding seats face de-registration unless they can supply a list of 1,500 members (up from 500) who are enrolled to vote. Parties have been given just three months to provide the details of these members, in the middle of a deadly pandemic and lockdowns in major cities.

The murderous policies of Labor and the Coalition in relation to the pandemic have accelerated the decline in popular support for both parties.

Like other “essential” workers, posties have been forced to work throughout the pandemic, placing the health and safety of ourselves and our families in danger for the sake of company profits. Our workload has doubled, allowing Australia Post to rake in record parcel revenue of $6.5 billion.

Workers don’t want to “learn to live with COVID-19,” as politicians and the corporate media constantly demand. Workers want to eradicate this disease to protect themselves and their families from serious illness and possible death. That is what the SEP stands for. We in the PWRFC fully support this policy.

The unions, which serve the same corporate masters as the major parties, have led the drive to keep workers on the job in dangerous conditions throughout the pandemic.

Workers have endured decades of cuts and attacks on our living standards and democratic rights, we do not even have the right to strike anymore! Enough is enough!

We call on workers to support the SEP and become an electoral member to help defeat this anti-democratic attack.

All Australia Post and other delivery workers are invited to contact the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee.