Victorian unions withhold support from Labor ahead of November vote
The ASU and ETU are redirecting resources away from Premier Ben Carroll's re-election bid, citing broken promises and a looming royal commission.
By Jabari Long ·
Victoria’s state election is one month away, and two major unions have stopped backing the Labor government. The Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) have both withdrawn their planned campaign efforts. This shift marks a notable break in the traditional alliance between labor and the party in power.
The ASU has launched a digital advertising campaign in Premier Ben Carroll’s seat of Niddrie. The ads feature a large photo of the premier with the text “Ben lied. Labor lies.” Tash Wark, the secretary of the ASU’s Victorian branch, said the union would not doorknock for Labor in the coming weeks. She stated that workers cannot show up for the premier if he does not show up for them.
The dispute centers on a cap for council rates. The ASU claims it had a deal with former premier Jacinta Allan to lift this cap. Carroll scrapped the deal after taking over leadership in July. He cited concerns that raising the cap would increase cost of living pressures for non-council workers. Wark said the union would return to campaigning if the government reverses this decision.
The ETU took a different approach on Wednesday. Its state council resolved not to run a third-party campaign for the 2026 state election. The union spent more than $1.6 million supporting Labor in the last election. It will now divert those funds to prepare for the construction royal commission. The resolution describes this as a defense against an “oncoming attack on blue-collar unions” from a potential Coalition government.
The ETU resolution cites polling from early October. That data predicted Labor would win only 25 seats. This is 10 fewer than forecasts made before the July leadership spill. The document notes that Victorian Labor has seen a decline in support since Carroll replaced Allan. One anonymous ETU source said the union movement has been muted toward Labor in the lead-up to the vote.
A Victorian government spokesperson responded by saying Ben Carroll is fighting for working people. The spokesperson warned that a Liberal-One Nation coalition would scrap penalty rates and cut 31,700 public sector jobs. They also noted that such a government would end paid parental leave and implement $40 billion in cuts.
The ETU had previously opposed the royal commission into corruption on the Big Build. In June, it joined two other unions in an advertising blitz challenging claims that construction site corruption cost taxpayers $15 billion. By this point in the 2022 cycle, the ETU had already aired ads that reached 2 million people on Facebook and 1.4 million on YouTube. No ads have run for this election.
Carroll is seeking a fourth consecutive term for Labor on November 28. The latest polling puts Labor behind the Coalition on a two-party-preferred basis. Labor stands at 44% while the Coalition leads at 55%. The rise of One Nation adds another variable to the final result.
