Bob Carnegie, a working-class activist, discusses the 1985 SEQEB dispute in Australia, emphasizing its historical and personal significance. He highlighted the global economic context, including Reagan's anti-union policies and Thatcher's monetarist approach, which led to widespread de-industrialization.
In Australia, the Prices and Incomes Accord weakened union power, reducing union membership from 51% to 12%. The Electrical Trade Union's fight against subcontracting in the electricity industry sector led to the sacking of 1,007 workers and widespread blackouts. Despite the defeat, Bob Carnegie stressed the importance of resisting tyranny and injustice, quoting William Z. Foster on the value of fighting for working-class rights: "No strike or struggle is wholly ever lost, that it's far, far better to fight a losing fight than to have never fought at all. And most tellingly, he said that an unresisting working class will soon find itself on a rice diet."
