Labor

METALS MELT-DOWN: Dargavel told to stay home by Ambition Faction while he faces a chilling confrontation with Dave Oliver

Controversial Victorian AMWU State Secretary Steve Dargavel has been ordered to stay in Melbourne by other members of the Ambition Faction whose unionist leaders are visiting Canberra today.

The “Dargavel Factor” was making it difficult to get some Club Fed MP’s to meet with the visiting unionists so they reportedly told him to cool his heels, a cruel blow to the aspiring and former parliamentarian who is now forced to spend today in the office contemplating the ongoing disaster that is his once-powerful union.

MATES WITH A RACIST THUG
The ceremonial union leader, known principally for his association with convicted criminal Craig Johnston, who recently warned that “Tongans” were behind all the trouble at the West Gate CFMEU picket not the union’s members and accompanying members of a notorious Geelong bikie gang, is believed to be on the verge of an explosive confrontation with AMWU national secretary Dave Oliver and the supreme National Council of the union.

Dargavel was elevated to the position of state secretary as part of a peace deal between the “National Left” faction of the union and the notorious Craig Johnston backed “Workers First” group of self-styled militants whose exploits extended to frequent threats of violence (or worse) and riots in company offices that left mainly female staff terrorised and traumatised. As a result of these incidents, Johnston was sentenced to two years jail and was eventually forced out of the union.

Union insiders believe Dargavel has performed much worse than Johnston, running the Victorian branch off a financial cliff and now entering into a political pact that could cause the union to be isolated from its former Socialist Left allies. In Dargavel’s defence, unlike Johnston, he has not sent his agents – under cover of darkness – to physically attack union rivals.

They explain that it was never Dargavel’s intention to leave the Socialist Left but instead to take it over. He had been repeatedly encouraged in that delusion by Andrew Giles, the Socialist Left secretary and then rival of Kim Carr.

Throughout last year, Giles was busy stroking Dargavel’s ego and explaining how if they worked together they could achieve worldwide domination.

It came as something of a rude shock to Dargavel when the January party stability deal between Labor Unity and the Socialist Left occurred, with Giles’ active participation as it appeared to give Alan Griffin and Kim Carr a dominant position while leaving Dargavel on the sidelines.

Giles attempted to bring Dargavel with him but the former confidant had betrayed him and was suddenly in league with “Zionists” who could not be trusted.

PATRIOT GIVES LOON LOVE
Since then Dargavel made no secret of his displeasure and has now formed a close bond with NUW state secretary Antony Thow who is believed to have told brother unionists that they are “good mates” and that Dargavel is nowhere near as crazy as anyone hearing him speak at a Hezbollah rally might have thought.

Thow has certainly done well getting Dargavel and the Metals division secretary Gary Robb to sign a deal. Thow and Dargavel are said to speak every morning by telephone to discuss the latest.

Now the interesting thing is whether the National Council of the AMWU will tolerate this act of right-wing rebellion by the state branch. Union insiders say there is little serious dispute about the national council’s power in this matter. The union is unusually structured to give the national union a dominant say over the affairs of its state branches, over political and financial matters.

It was established by Maoists who might have said a thousand flowers could bloom but were perfectly willing to roll out the tanks when required.

They have demonstrated this power before, insiders say. There is ample legal and political precedent for action.

And as we revealed this week, the Victorian branch of the AMWU is in a deep financial crisis as well. The national office is asset-rich but won’t hand over the loot, saying state branches need to start to make adjustments that reflect the realities of changes in the manufacturing industry.

Some believe Gary Robb signed the Ambition Faction deal purely in order to extract money from the national office. At least he has sane plan.

The national secretary of the AMWU Dave Oliver has been out of town. He is believed not to have sent Steve Dargavel a post-card during his travels but is thought to be beside himself with fury that his own state’s branch is now voting with the Labor Right.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
This is a chilling confrontation. A powerful national union secretary titan Dave Oliver who is a close ally of Senator Kim Carr. A state union secretary Stevie Dargavel who critics think is crazy as a cut snake on a hot day. One from the national Left, a group closely aligned to Kim Carr. The other from Workers First, a faction led by the criminally violent. They had sorted out their differences prior to the last union election. Now it seems only one of the leftists can survive.

And either way, now sidelined observer Craig Johnston will almost certainly blame the Tongans.

© 2009 VEXNEWS 2010©.