'You cannot talk about this at work’

Last week, ASU For Palestine — a group of rank-and-file Australian Services Union (ASU) members primarily based in Victoria — published the findings of two surveys they conducted earlier this year.

The surveys, one internal to ASU For Palestine members and one that solicited responses on social media, aimed “to find out more about how workers are experiencing workplace repression when organising or showing solidarity for Palestine at work”. They collected anonymous responses from nearly 100 people at dozens of workplaces covered by the ASU, including governmental and non-profit organisations that work on gender-based violence support services, legal and justice services, mental health, LGBTIQA+ advocacy, housing and homelessness, education and youth services.

Titled ‘The New McCarthyism’, the report found that bullying, intimidation and threats towards workers who have expressed support for Palestinians or for a ceasefire in Gaza is widespread across the social services and non-profit sectors.