On Friday 17 September, I traveled to Adelaide for the first Australian launch of Power in Coalition.

The event was sponsored by SA Unions and held in Imprints Bookstore in the centre of the city. Despite it being a cold night, there was a great crowd who turned up – a mix of union organisers, community organisation workers, academics and interested social change campaigners.

The  bookshop was full, entertained during the night by the occasional excitable chants of passers by down the street.

Janet Giles of SA Unions opened the night, relaying her experience of strong coalitions – not only with the work of the Your Rights at Work campaign but a long standing coalition around Asbestos in Adelaide. That coalition followed one of the lessons in Power in Coalition – less is more – where a diverse but  mutually interested group of lawyers, researchers, unions and community advocates have been coming together for years. They first built relationships to share their knowledge and perspectives on the asbestos issue, and now they are beginning to work jointly on specific outcomes like victims rights. Janet reflected that the relationship building phase of the coalition was key to its success – and so unlike the usual practice of unions which is to try to just organise the next rally!

John Speor from the Australian Institute for Social Research was next. He talked about his personal experience in coalitions from the 1980s and 1990s – particularly his work firstly against electricity privatisation and then the Coaliton for a Better Deal. That alliance was a diverse group of organisations – student groups, community organisations, migrant organisations and unions – coordinated by SA Unions. It too followed a key lesson from Power in Coalition, which is the importance of making positive agenda setting claims rather just running “no” coalitions. This coalition had plenty of success, including the fact that it was sustained for a long time – lasting around five years.

John also spoke about the need for new and better coalitions right now in South Australia – particularly given the major cuts to the public sector announced in yesterday’s state budget. It was an inspiring call, and after the speeches some initial discussions were had between those in the room about how this could happen.

I then spoke about some of the stories from Power in Coalition, including why I became interested in working in coalitions as a union organiser with a social movement background, and then telling the story of Chicago’s grassroots collaborative and its campaign for living wages for retail workers.