Statements on the US-Israel assault on Iran by the Maritime Union of Australia and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
Australia’s trade unions have a strong tradition in international solidarity. And while there have been some unions that have made good statements on the Israel genocide in Palestine, very few have tried to put these into action through strikes, stopwork meetings or sought to deepen members’ education on the importance of internationalism as central to union work.
With the imperialist onslaught unleashed on Iran by the US and Israel, it is to be welcomed that the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia have both issued political statements.
The MUA statement is by far the stronger, naming imperialism as the culprit and the USA and Israel as the aggressors. It also directly calls for the Australian government to cease its support for the war whether that be political, logistic or military. And crucially it calls for the removal of all US bases from Australia.
The AMWU mentions imperialism but fails to lay the blame at the feet of the USA and Israel, not mentioning them once. It also fails to mention Australia’s support for Trump’s war and in fact echoes the diplomatic language of ‘de-escalation’ which Australia and the EU have used to effectively call on Iran to stop defending itself.
Both the MUA and AMWU (Victoria) statements identify AUKUS as a linchpin tying us to US wars of aggression. The AMWU National statement does not do this.
Nonetheless, the AMWU National statement places the role of workers in the defence sector front-and-centre. Workers in these industries have “unique responsibility and a powerful voice in how the fruits of our labour are used on the world stage”.
It clearly opposes being drawn into wars of imperialist aggression and proclaims a strong internationalist message that “the workers in Iran and Palestine are not our enemies”.
Unions in Australia have largely been corporatised since the Accord process in the 1990s. That is why we welcome political statements by union on matters of war and peace. The working class must develop its own foreign and defence policy.
Rank-and-file members of these and other unions must seek to put flesh on the bones of such statements to rebuild a defiant anti-imperialist and internationalist campaign against growing militarism in which the Australian government is not only complicit, but leading the charge with AUKUS and its support for Trump’s war on Iran.
MUA condemns ongoing attacks on Iran by USA and Israel
2 March 2026
The Maritime Union of Australia condemns the ongoing attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel as reckless, illegal acts of aggression that drag the world closer to a wider war and nuclear catastrophe.
These strikes are a gross breach of international law, an assault on Iranian sovereignty and a direct undermining of the already fragile framework of multilateral diplomacy.
Workers in Australia know that war is not an accident; it is the brutal expression of an imperialist system that puts corporate profit, arms dealers and Great Power rivalry ahead of human need.
From Palestine to the Gulf, it is ordinary workers, their families and communities who are killed, displaced and silenced, while the war industries, their shareholders and their political agents cash in. For maritime workers in particular, every billion dollars poured into missiles, submarines and bases is a billion dollars denied to building a sustainable, job-rich maritime future. Instead of feeding the war machine, Australia should be funding a publicly owned fleet of Australian crewed coastal trading vessels, rebuilding our shipbuilding capacity, and guaranteeing secure, union jobs on the waterfront.
The choice is stark: jobs in war, or jobs in moving the goods our communities need, strengthening our coastal shipping, and decarbonising transport. Military expenditure deepens insecurity; investment in coastal trade, tankers for the vital protection of our fuel security, ports and training builds real security for workers and their families.
The US, as the biggest and most aggressive military power in history, is once again asserting a unilateral “right” to strike wherever it chooses, using the same lies and manufactured threats that justified the invasion of Iraq and countless other interventions. Israel, armed, financed and protected by Washington, is acting as a regional attack dog, escalating conflict and attempting to redraw the map of the Middle East through force, assassination and collective punishment.
These actions are not self-defence; they are offensive operations designed to secure US domination of the region and to crush any state that resists that agenda.
Australia must not be complicit in this program of permanent war. Successive governments have tied our foreign policy, our military infrastructure and now hundreds of billions of dollars under AUKUS to US war fighting strategies, turning our country into a southern base for operations that threaten peace both globally and within our own region.
That is a direct attack on the living standards and safety of Australian workers, robbing health, housing, climate and maritime infrastructure budgets to feed the war machine, while employers push waterfront automation and AI to destroy secure jobs.
We call on the Australian Government to condemn this war. We demand an immediate end to all US and Israeli attacks on Iran; the withdrawal of Australian political, military and logistical support; the removal of US bases from our soil; and a decisive turn to diplomacy, disarmament and respect for international law.
Peace is union business, and the union movement has both the responsibility and the power to mobilise against this drive to war.
AMWU national statement
The AMWU National Steering Committee (NSC) notes that as the workers who build and maintain Australia’s defence capabilities, we have a unique responsibility and a powerful voice in how the fruits of our labour are used on the world stage.
NSC notes we are the builders of peace through strength and safety. We will not allow our labour to be weaponised for wars of aggression that bring nothing but grief to the poor and profit to the powerful.
NSC further notes the drums of war are beating louder again, this time directed at the people of Iran following the ongoing catastrophe in Palestine. We recognise that these conflicts are not about ‘democracy’ or ‘liberation’, but are the violent byproduct of imperialist interests seeking to secure resources, markets and strategic dominance.
The AMWU affirms:
- Our skills and our industry exist to ensure the safety and sovereignty of the Australian people. We reject any attempt to drag our nation into ‘wars of choice’ or foreign interventions that serve only to destabililse regions and line the pockets of global arms giants. Our defence capability is for safety and sovereign capacity, not aggression;
- The workers in Iran and Palestine are not our enemies. Like us, they want stable jobs, safe homes and a future for their children. We refuse to see our craft used to shatter the lives of fellow working-class families;
- Australia’s defence policy should be determined by the needs of the Australian people, not by the strategic demands of foreign powers or the profit margins of multinational corporations who treat war as a growth market; and
- While we must maintain a strong defence industry, every dollar wasted on aggressive escalation is a dollar ‘stolen’ from the social wage – from the schools, hospitals and housing our members and their families rely on.
NSC resolves to:
- Demand a policy of de-escalation – we call on the Australian government to use every diplomatic lever to prevent war with Iran and to demand a permanent, just peace in Palestine;
- Protect the integrity of our work – the purpose of the Australian defence industry is the protection of our shores and our people, not the pursuit of aggressive military adventures abroad; and
- Fight the cost-of-living crisis – we reject the claim that we must choose between national security and social security. We demand that the wealth of this nation be used to lower the cost of food, energy and housing for all workers.
NSC reaffirms that the AMWU stands for peace, prosperity and the right of all people to live free from the threat of foreign bombing and economic strangulation.
AMWU Victorian Branch Peace Statement
The Iranian people, like all people, deserve peace and prosperity at home.
The AMWU questions the justification for these attacks as a dangerous escalation that threatens the safety and well-being of all of us here in Australia and beyond.
This war entrenches division and risks widening into a broader global conflict.
We stand strongly for peace in the face of those political leaders, media commentators and wealthy business owners who try to tell us that this war is necessary and good for the Australian people.
Some have suggested that this war is about freeing and liberating the people of Iran. We question how this can be true and ask you to consider how free you might feel if your loved ones had been killed by foreign bombing.
Workers and families like us will suffer and die while the benefits of war flow to billionaires. War means difficult times for you and me, and massive profit for arms manufacturers, media executives and big tech.
History teaches us that every dollar spent on war is a dollar stolen from our communities and us; from our schools, our hospitals, our parks. And, at the same time, working people will face further rises in the cost of living, accelerating the unaffordability of food, energy and housing.
We call on the Australian Government to re-prioritise an investment in our own sovereign capabilities. Instead of another endless war in the Middle East, we could cancel AUKUS and use the $375 billion to rebuild our domestic manufacturing abilities.
For the good of Australians, we should directly own and control the industrial manufacturing of our defence assets, as well as other essential resources such as food, medicines, and energy supply.
We must oppose the endless pipeline of money for war and the restraint on health, housing and education spending. We reject war and demand peace and prosperity at home and abroad.
The AMWU calls on all politicians and governments to promote peace and de-escalation, so that workers are not made to bear the costs of war yet again.
We will continue our fight for better wages and conditions, and to improve the lives of working people and their families.