- by Arthur Martin
- The Guardian
- Issue #2190
On 7 May, a group of trade unionists gathered outside the US consulate in North Sydney. The crowd was largely made up of trade union officials and activists representing the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the NSW Teachers’ Federation and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) in support of the Peace is Union Business campaign that organised the protest.
Peace is Union Business has been gathering support since its national conference in December 2025 . Trade unions have a long history of involvement in international solidarity and standing against war and imperialism. Unions have always had a crucial role to play in opposing war. Working people are the ones sent to fight wars, the ones whose public services are cut to fund them, and the ones who pay the economic price through higher costs and greater insecurity.
This Peace is Union Business rally featured a number of speakers from the represented trade unions in attendance, including Warren Smith, the National Deputy Secretary of the MUA. A major theme of the speeches was the escalation of war in 2026, with US president Donald Trump dragging the world into conflict with Venezuela and Iran while making alarming threats towards Cuba.
Speakers emphasised that these are not abstract developments. The working class are being made to pay for Trump’s wars. Impacts on the working class in Australia include:
devastated superannuation and retirement funds,
increases to the cost of living directly brought about by fuel insecurity from the Iran war, and
money taken away from healthcare, welfare including the NDIS, education, and other social programs used to fund AUKUS.
Dr Damien Cahill, NTEU General Secretary said that “workers across Australia are being forced to pay the price for Trump’s illegal war on Iran. The war is driving up the cost of living and interest rates and driving down living standards.”
Natasha Watt, Deputy President NSW Teachers’ Federation said that “teachers work hard every day to educate and provide hope to their students against the backdrop of an increasingly unsettled world impacted by war, increasing military spending and the illegal military action by President Trump.
“All wars are fought against children,” she added. “Teachers well know the impact on the children and their families in our community who have close ties to countries where war and genocide are being waged. It is appalling schools in the Middle East have been targeted by Trump and his collaborators.”
Arthur Rorris, South Coast Labour Council Secretary said “Trump didn’t only bomb Iran, he is smashing regional Australia as well. The workers of the Illawarra and every region in Australia are paying the price for Trump’s wars. Trump’s fingerprints are on every petrol pump, supermarket checkout, and mortgage rate rise in the country. He is enemy number one of the Australian worker.”
Warren Smith spelled out the cost to Australians, “$380 billion is being wasted on war-fighting submarines designed to provoke conflict, when the same money could fund a nationally owned shipping fleet 250 times over – a fleet that actually helps us cope with the damage done by our warmongering US ally?
“Real security comes from jobs, housing, food, clean water, education, health care, democratic rights and peaceful coexistence with the peoples of the region.”
