The following reports give a flavour of the June 28 national protest against Work Choices around the country.
Karen Fletcher reports that between 80,000 (police estimate) and 150,000 (Trades Hall estimate) workers gridlocked central Melbourne converging from four rally points at the city's edge, for the June 28 demonstration against Work Choices.
The turnout was smaller than the quarter of a million-strong march last November 15. Six months after the passing of Work Choices, the mood has changed. School holidays, a downturn in the building industry and a lacklustre approach to building the rally by many state public sector union leaderships who have assured their members they will be protected by Bracks' Labor Government, contributed, as did Australia Post, Visy and Nestle, which took legal action to threaten workers with the sack for participating.
Rather than the tens of thousands of teachers, nurses, manufacturing and building workers, who formed the organised core of November 15, a large proportion of the June 28 crowd were individuals and families with handpainted signs and raw concern for the future.
There was little talk from the officials of organising to resist the laws, refuse to pay fines and face the consequences united as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet had promised last November. Instead, the crowd listened restively as Bracks intoned the phrase "working families" eight times and Kim Beazley boomed about "patriotism", "ordinary Australians" and the next federal elections.
In pubs and workplaces afterwards recovering protesters were heard to complain about the barefaced electioneering. "I didn't realise I was going to an ALP election rally", one workmate told me later. "I feel used."
While grassroots unionists were supplanted by politicians on the official platform, many did speak as their contingents gathered at the four rallying points — State Parliament, Trades Hall, Southern Cross Station and Federation Square. Victorian Secretary of the Communication Workers' Union, Joan Doyle, called for active resistance by unions at Southern Cross Station, and led a vociferous contingent of postal workers behind a banner proclaiming: "Today we Unite. Tomorrow we Strike".
Former Hunters and Collectors lead singer Mark Seymour and the cast of Melbourne Workers' Theatre production We Built This City were a bright spot in the official proceedings with their rendition of Touch One, Touch All, and their dire warning that "the bluebloods are on the attack".
Uniting Church minister Sue Gorman struck a chord when she emphasised that "this is bigger than politics, we are talking about human beings", describing the misery church workers are encountering with "single mothers forced to work weekends, and the poorest of the poor getting poorer".
Well received, also, were five workers who have felt the sharp end of WorkChoices among them: Karen Palmer, sacked on her return from sick leave after 14 years' work for a manufacturing firm; Brodene Wardley, interrogated by the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) star chamber and forced to answer questions about her role as building site Health and Safety delegate under threat of six months' jail; and Arthur Redmond, one of 28 technicians retrenched by Optus then offered contracts for $180 per week less take-home pay.
Caitlin Crozier, one of 36 workers in Channel 7's captioning department, who were sacked last week for "operational reasons", received applause for her observations about the sackings. These took place after the department was centralised in Melbourne and many workers had relocated from all around the country. The network's CEO "said it was a business decision", she said, "and nothing personal. But to us, let me tell you, it's personal!"
Sue Bull reports from Geelong that 10,000-15,000 protesters marched behind a banner that read, "Better to fight on our feet, than our kids live on their knees". Children led the rally, as a symbol of the next generation who will be hit hardest by Work Choices.
Contingents arrived from three directions — the largest, from Trades Hall, was led by construction workers, another from the hospital was led by nurses and health workers and the third, from TAFE, was led by students and teachers.
Trades Hall secretary Tim Gooden read out a list of 10 "people's demands" including national awards for every occupation; the abolition of AWAs; unjust and unfair dismissal provisions to apply to all; the right of employees to be represented in the workplace; the abolition of the building industry gestapo [the ABCC]; the right to collectively bargain; edning the exploitation of guest workers and refugees; an immediate increase in employed training for the young and an independent industrial disputes resolution commission. Rally goers enthusiastically declared they would not vote for anyone who does not commit to the people's demands.
Gooden also derided one of Geelong's biggest employers, ALCOA, which tried to stop its employees from attending the rally, raising his hand with his middle finger extended in the air. The rally followed suit.
More than 20,000 people mobilised in Blacktown, in Sydney's western suburbs, report Liam Mitchell and Susan Price. The venue was chosen as part of the Unions NSW's marginal seats campaign.
Speakers included a truck driver who had recently been involved in a dispute with Tooheys and Linfox, which had taken over the Tooheys delivery contract. He told of how drivers had been informed they would have to pay for the upgrade of their trucks in a deal that would have meant a 42% wage cut. The dispute was resolved just before the rally.
The rally marched through Blacktown city and back to the Showgrounds. Larger than even the officials anticipated, the march had to be stopped from colliding with the tail as it left the Showgrounds. Sizable contingents came from the Fire Brigades Employees Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the National Union of Workers, the Teachers' Federation and the Australian Services Union. The NUW and AMWU bussed in from work sites all over Sydney.
Having decided not to hold a simultaneous rally in the city, which would have guaranteed even larger numbers, Unions NSW was under pressure to ensure the rally was well attended. A Unions NSW organiser was seconded to the NUW, and organisers from a range of unions formed a western Sydney regional group to prepare. The local mayor and council also supported the rally.
More than 700 joined the protest in Lismore organised by the Northern Rivers Unionists Network (NRUN) reports Bernie Wunsch. NRUN has been organising against the laws since early 2005. Chants of "Shame, Spotlight, Shame" echoed through the streets as the march went past the company now notorious for its rotten AWAs. Considering very few workplaces organised a stop-work, NRUN was happy with the turnout.
NSW Teachers federation organiser Dorothy Redfern told Green Left Weekly that it was easier for the NSWTF to organise a morning stop-work for teachers and explained that many of the 1500 workers who attended the 9am protest at Tweed Heads were teachers who had organised a stop-work before school started.
Socialist Alliance member Nick Fredman received a rousing cheer when he challenged Beazley to not only abolish AWAs but to also end the "outrageous harassment of building workers, the attacks on the right of entry and the right to organise".
Up to 20,000 workers rallied in Brisbane's Southbank, reports Mike Byrne. Queensland Council of Unions secretary Grace Grace told the crowd that employers who wanted to remain competitive would have to use the new laws whether they wanted to or not. At the Roma Street Parklands, ACTU national secretary Greg Combet focused his remarks on the next federal election, saying it would be won or lost in Queensland, and that the marginal seats campaign was critical to Labor's success. There was no alternative strategy of how to fight Work Choices put.
The Rockhampton rally attracted 2500 workers, Townsville and Gladstone 3000 and Mackay 2000. Gregory Martin reports that more than 2000 people rallied at the Gold Coast's Pratton Park. A large continent of building workers defied threats of fines to join the early morning rally which became a sea of union flags including from the Builder Laborers' Federation (BLF), Electrical Trades Union, Transport Workers Union, CFMEU, and AMWU.
Howard and his gang of bullies have "declared war on the working people of Australia and organised labour", Dick Williams, Queensland ETU state secretary told the crowd. He said Work Choices was based on lies that even the government's own secret industrial relations department, the Office of Employment Advocate, has exposed. He said that as "vulnerable workers are being exploited, Howard, Costello and Andrews were granting themselves wage increases. Rugby League legend Tommy Raudoniki spoke out strongly against the laws, as did Greg Simcoe, state secretary of the BLF. Several Labor MPs and candidates also attended. A motion to step up the campaign against the laws put by Dan Fennelly, a BLF organiser, was passed unanimously.
Despite heavy rain in Cairns, more than 500 people protested. James Cook University students were well represented. Ken Cotterill reports that Tim Brunero from Big Brother described the Howard government as the "meanest and grubbiest" in Australian history. Also speaking was the federal Labor candidate for Leichhardt, Jim Turnour and Kevin O'Sullivan, Cairns Regional Council of Unions secretary.
Ron Perkins reports from Perth that the mood at the 12,000-strong rally, vindicated the decision of four blue-collar unions to organise the protest despite Unions WA's refusal. The unions organising the protest were the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Maritime Union of Australia and Communication, Electrical and Plumbing Union-Electrical Trades Union.
Large contingents of construction workers walked off building sites despite the threat of $22,000 fines. Two of the Leighton-Kumagai Perth to Mandurah rail sites closed as did a number of Multiplex sites. The MUA bussed in members from Fremantle and Rockingham, and there were big contingents of AMWU and ETU members.
CPSU-CSA and the State School Teachers Union, which had previously not supported the rally, sent organised contingents. The Socialist Alliance, Greens WA and the socialist youth organisation Resistance, which brought a contingent of young workers and a vocal contingent from Rockingham high school, also took part.
CFMEU secretary Kevin Reynolds called for the scrapping of Work Choices and the abolition of AWAs. AMWU secretary Jock Ferguson declared, "[Together] we will get rid of these filthy stinking industrial laws". MUA state secretary Chris Cain addressed the increasing use of guest workers by unscrupulous employers. Cain said workers needed to see guest workers as victims of Work Choices legislation, explaining that the laws had made it easier for bosses to undermine working conditions. All the speakers called for national protests to continue.
Chris Cain reported that 300 blue-collar workers rallied in Port Hedland and 600 in Karratha in the far north.
Sandy Whelan reports from Adelaide that the week of action in kicked off on June 26 when up to 800 delegates packed into the Town Hall to hear Greg Combet and SA Unions Secretary Janet Giles. The largest contingents were from the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) and the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).
Combet stressed that workers need rights, not charity. "We're in a battle for the future of Australian democracy", he said to applause. Combet's plan to get the laws repealed was focused on the next federal elections, specifically three SA marginal seats. Giles urged delegates to get involved in local Workers' Defence Committees. The call for another national protest in November brought cheers.
On June 28, a picket outside Liberal MP Kym Richardson's office in Noarlunga, attracted 500 people. The 10am picket outside MP Trish Draper's office drew 600 people, while the noon rally in Salisbury, north of Adelaide had 800.
Despite attempts to stop workers from going, the rally at Victoria Square drew between 5000-10,000 people, a mix of blue- and white-collar workers. The National Union of Workers (NUW) and the CFMEU were among the biggest contingents. Construction sites across the Adelaide CBD were silent during lunchtime.
Joe Camillo, AMWU state secretary, chaired the rally, which was addressed by Labor's Penny Wong and Michael Wright, the state's IR minister. Resistance speaker Emma Murphy was well received by the many students and young workers when she said, "This is a political fight, and we're going to take the power where and when we can". Martin O'Malley from the CFMEU warned that if the building industry task force targeted one worker, "they'll be taking on the whole union", and if any union was targeted under the new laws "they'll be taking on the whole labor movement".
Will Williams reports fro Wollongong that 6000 people marched and in Newcastle, Peter Robson reports that 4000 people joined the rally. Speakers at the Newcastle rally included Catholic Bishop Michael Malone and Trades Hall secretary Gary Kennedy. Thousands also protested in Launceston and Hobart.
Jo Hunt reports that around 100 people gathered outside the ACT Legislative Assembly in Canberra before marching to the office of Liberal Senator Gary Humphries. Rally organiser and Australian Services Union representative David Livingstone said the Work Choices had "put our industrial relations system back 150 years", and called on the ACT Labor government to "continue to support us". Ambrose Andrews reports that about 180 people gathered at ANU for a lunch time protest called by the ANU branch of the NTEU. Speakers included Labor Senator Kate Lundy; Derrick Corrigan, ACT NTEU branch president; Peter Malone, Unions ACT secretary; sociology professor Andrew Hopkins; Rachel Allen from ANU Labor Left students; and Neil Mudford, the NTEU ACT division secretary, who said "Labor's on side now, but they've got to be kept moving".
Around 120 people protested at Queanbeyan Park, reports Paul Oboohov. Speakers included Stephen Curran from the organising group EMPOWER (Eden-Monaro People Only Wanting Employment Rights), Kate Lundy and NSW ALP MP Steve Whan. Curran outlined an AWA for the local National Party MP, Gary Nairn, that would only pay him for the time he sat in parliament, and would require him to seek other employment at other times, as well as doing away with his traveling allowance and his parliamentary superannuation.
From Green Left Weekly, July 5, 2006.
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