Workers join the barricades for ALP

Thousands of union volunteers will doorknock households in 17 seats across the country this weekend.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus will have union volunteers out in force during the campaign. Picture: Colin Murty

• Federal Election 2019 Full Coverage

Thousands of union volunteers will doorknock households in 17 seats across the country this weekend as unions spend millions of dollars in a bid to get Bill Shorten into The Lodge.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the Morrison government had been an “unmitigated disaster” for workers and the union movement would be capitalising on “people power” to campaign to get the Coalition thrown out of office.

Ms McManus said the ACTU would spend “several million dollars” during the campaign, while Victorian unions alone intend to spend $1 million trying to wrest seven Liberal-held seats in the state. Three of the federal seats in Victoria — Corangamite, Deakin and Dunkley — are among the 17 electorates that will be doorknocked tomorrow and Sunday by unionists, with the ACTU to campaign in 28 seats until the election.

Ms McManus said volunteers would talk to tens of thousands of people this weekend. “People-power is what drives our union movement and it’s our greatest tool this election,’’ she said.

Union activists will also campaign at suburban train stations, with Victorian unionists to replicate campaign tactics used during last year’s state election campaign.

About 10,000 fortune cookies containing anti-Liberal messages were handed out to commuters in the state campaign and unionists plan to give out 10,000 hot cross buns to train passengers. The message will be that workers are “hot and cross” over penalty rate cuts and low wages growth.

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said Scott Morrison was “seriously on the nose” in Victoria. “I think Victorians have already made up their minds and Scott Morrison is in a lot of trouble,’’ he said.

Labor has promised a raft of policies that will benefit unions and workers including the reversal of penalty rate cuts, multi-­employer bargaining, a “living wage” for low-paid workers, changes to labour hire and casual employment, the winding back of employer bargaining power, and the scrapping of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered ­Organisations Commission.

Bill Shorten yesterday launching his election campaign in ­Deakin, one of the Victorian seats targeted by the unions that ­requires a swing of 6.44 per cent to change hands.

Ms McManus said the election was “about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn around our country and restore fairness”.

“This government has been an unmitigated disaster for working people,’’ Ms McManus said. “We are facing record inequality, ­record low wage growth and more than half of working people don’t have a secure job.”

Activist group GetUp said the election lead-up would be the ­organisation’s “biggest ever campaign effort” as it seeks to elevate climate change as a priority issue for voters.

It aims to have 7000 volunteers in 30 seats promoting its bid to ­remove the “hard Right’s hold on power” and help topple the Morrison government.

GetUp said it would try to unseat Peter Dutton from his Queensland seat of Dickson and Christian Porter from his West Australian seat of Pearce.

Other high-profile targets ­include Tony Abbott in the Sydney electorate of Warringah and Nicolle Flint, who holds the South Australian seat of Boothby.

GetUp will also target two key Victorian seats, including Flinders, held by Greg Hunt, as well as the electorate of Menzies held by Kevin Andrews.