Arrested activists condemn union movement's 'monumental failure' on Gaza

Protest reported to police by Victorian Trades Hall exposes bitter union dispute over Palestine

On March 6, protesters draped an apron over a statue of ‘60s-era feminist activist Zelda D’Aprano outside Trades Hall in Melbourne.

The apron read ‘Difficult Woman’ – a reference to sexual assault survivors advocate Grace Tame, who was publicly described by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “difficult” following her speech to a large anti-genocide rally in Sydney in February. The protesters also spray-painted the phrase on the ground in front of the statue.

The protest was carried out by members and affiliates of the Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance (WACA), and aimed to highlight “the failure of Trades Hall Council and unions Australia-wide to take any effective action to halt the export of weapons to Israel”.

Writing on Facebook, Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari claimed the women were “aggressive and physical to the Trades Hall women who asked them to stop”, and said Trades Hall had reported the “vandalism” to Victoria Police.

“These people are not our comrades,” Hilakari wrote. “They are not left wing and know nothing about how to build a broad movement to make change.”

The incident led to the arrests of the ‘Zelda Eight’ activists and exposed long-running tensions between Trades Hall and pro-Palestine union groups, who claim Hilakari and other union leaders have “continually betrayed the thousands of working class people they pretend to represent, who have stood up against the ongoing genocide in Gaza over the last two-and-a-half years”.

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Union movement’s ‘monumental failure’ on Gaza

Hilakari has made public statements in support of Palestine, addressing a Melbourne March for Palestine rally in August and calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a genocidal war criminal” in December 2024.

However, Unionists for Palestine (UfP), a collective of pro-Palestine rank-and-file union members, have condemned Trades Hall for not responding to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions call in 2023 for the international labour movement to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza by refusing to build or transport weapons destined for Israel, and to pressure corporations and governments to halt military trade with Israel.

“Their inaction and their refusal to listen to both their own union members and the calls from Palestinian unionists to unions around the world to oppose Israel’s genocide is a monumental failure that belies their true class interests and their loyalty to the Australian Labor Party,” a UfP representative told Deepcut.

In April, the Italian government suspended the automatic renewal of a longstanding defence cooperation agreement with Israel – a move hailed by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese as “the first decision by the Italian government to stop the genocide in Palestine”. While Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is a vocal supporter of Israel, general strikes and protests in support of Gaza organised by Italian trade unions last year placed immense pressure on Meloni’s government.

“The general strikes in Italy and the various actions by dock workers around the world, are only possible because of militant, organised and political union members,” the UfP representative said.

The extensive ties between pro-Israel lobby groups and Australian trade unions receive relatively little scrutiny. Since 2010, union officials have travelled to Israel on yearly “study missions” organised by the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue (AILD), an organisation focused on “building links between unions in Israel and Australia”. Notable attendees include Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes; Rail, Tram and Bus Union national secretary Alex Claassens; Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance deputy chief executive Adam Portelli; Professionals Australia Victorian director Scott Crawford; and former ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick.

The AILD has also been active in censuring unions and union leaders it deems to be insufficiently supportive of Israel. On its ‘For The Record’ webpage, the AILD collates union statements of support for Palestinians, presenting them as “biased, inaccurate [or] divorced from reality” — including statements by Hilakari himself.

Zelda Eight protesters face counter-terror raids

Marion, a representative of the Zelda Eight, told Deepcut that Trades Hall calling the police on protesters had had a disastrous impact on the women’s lives. Bail conditions for many of the Zelda Eight prevent them from entering Melbourne’s CBD, contacting each other, or mentioning Hilakari in social media posts. In March, counter-terrorism police conducted dawn raids on several of the women’s homes.

“A union boss called the cops on protesters. This was a nonviolent action opposed to genocide and trying to hold the unions to account. It’s now become a joint counter-terrorism operation,” Marion said.

“If he’s prepared to call the cops on women for making a nonviolent political statement, who else is he prepared to call the cops on?”

Trades Hall did not respond to a request for comment.

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