Hi, I’m James. I’m the Victorian Socialists candidate for Sunbury.
I work in Melbourne as a furniture removalist. Unlike the career politicians and billionaires who run our society, I know what it’s like for the majority of people who work too hard, get too little, and are feeling the pressures of the cost of living crisis.
I’m a rank-and-file unionist in the Transport Workers’ Union. I think we need to build fighting unions that take on big business to win better wages and conditions on the job. I’m fighting to do this in my workplace, where we’re about to file a protected action ballot to strike for a pay rise at or above the rate of inflation.
I’m also an activist, and have organised and led many campaigns to demand rights for ordinary people getting screwed over by the system, from refugees to warehouse workers. As a member of Uni Students for Climate Justice, I’ve been targeting the criminal fossil fuel corporations that are destroying the lives of ordinary people for the sake of profit.
And I’m a student. I know the problems that young people face. For lots of people like myself, rents are too high, buying a house is increasingly out of reach, and those able to get a mortgage are being squeezed by the big banks.
Finally, I’m a socialist and have been for many years now. This means I think our system is fundamentally rigged for the rich. It means I want to fight for a society that works for everyone, not just the few. And it means I want to stand up against every injustice – against imperialism, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia – unlike the sellout politicians, who are more concerned with big business interests than the needs of working class people.