Australian Transnational Union Solidarity through Union-Building in Timor-Leste. (May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hannington-Pinto, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Labour history. Volume 116(2019)
• Page Start: 145
• Page End: 166
• Publication Date: 2019-05
• Subjects: Australian Union Solidarity -- Civil Society Institutions -- New Labour Internationalism -- Timor-Leste -- Transnational Unionism -- Union-Building; Labor -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; Labor unions -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; 331.0994
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0023-6942

Abstract

Abstract : Australian union support for the development of an organised labour movement in independent Timor-Leste has received scant attention. Looking to address this gap in the literature, this article focuses on the contributions of two individual activists between 2002 and 2003: Didge McDonald, from the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union; and the Maritime Union of Australia's Michael Killick. Their role in the development of Timorese unions was a crucial counterweight to the exploitation of domestic workers by foreign businesses – a phenomenon expedited by the macroeconomic implications of the broader United Nations state-building mission. Considered through the prism of nation-building at the civil society level, Australian union assistance to Timor-Leste is presented as a valuable example of how cross-border partnerships following the model of New Labour Internationalism can help workers challenge the growing reach of transnational capital.