The personal is political

It’s been a longstanding political motto of activists that “the personal is political”, but what does it really mean in practice?

It’s a term that originated from activists in the 60s and 70s, and simply put it means that nothing we do in our personal lives, no matter how small, is truly devoid of politics.

Today, this idea can be something we think about when we reflect on our own lives and our daily actions as people who care about progressive causes. When we re-orientate the way we think about what is political to be defined by the small actions we take – rather than the often-cynical politics that we see play out in parliament, or in the media – it can be a liberating way to create change in our own lives.

Unions have a longstanding history of political solidarity actions. Although laws have clamped down on organised solidarity strikes, union political action can look like individuals making individual choices about what to do based on our own morals and values. Take boycotts, for example. A boycott – or a consumer strike – is really just the sum of thousands upon thousands of individuals making the same politically motivated choice: to refuse to buy something that supports a bad cause.

A great example of consumer strikes making real change for workers was the 2016 Carlton United Breweries (CUB) strike. CUB are the parent company of many big-name beverages like Carlton Draught, VB, Asahi, Pure Blonde, Fosters, Corona, Balter, 4 Pines, Somersby, Bulmers, Mountain Goat, Mercury Cider, Vodka Cruisers, and more.

The strike began after 55 electricians at the brewery were terminated and forced to reapply for their positions, to be rehired on dodgy contracts that saw a pay cut of 65%.

Most workers rejected the new contracts and instead took up the picket line. Unions also organised a nationwide public boycott of CUB beers. CUB beers are everywhere and they represent the go-to beer for many Aussies – but the strike took hold. People stopped buying them. And CUB continued to dramatically lose sales… even over the grand final weekend.

After months of picketing workers and loss in revenue, CUB folded and gave workers their previous positions and pay back, with additional improved job security measures.

Things like what beer you drink might not seem like a direct political choice when you first think about it, but whether or not people bought CUB beers that spring clearly made a tangible difference for the lives of striking workers who got their jobs back because of mounting public pressure.

Of course, it’s impossible to boycott everything we disagree with, especially because of the corporate monopoly on almost all consumer goods, but it is possible to help where we feel we’re able to strategically.

Choosing to look at how the little things in our lives fit in with the bigger picture can often see real benefits for workers. Because when you think about it, union members also take seemingly small steps every day to change things for the better in their workplaces – reporting health and safety hazards, talking to their colleagues about joining the union, wearing a campaign badge, building relationships with fellow workers, attending meetings, or speaking up when they feel like something isn’t right at work.

Those small and personal actions are what help to grow the union movement as a whole and expand workers’ rights across industries.