Stuart Munckton
The June 1 student strike against Work Choices and "voluntary student unionism" (VSU), which was initiated by Resistance, has struck a chord with high-school and campus activists, as well as some unionists.
The list of endorsements continues to grow. Over the last two weeks, the student associations at James Cook University (JCU) Cairns campus, Newcastle University, the University of Western Sydney and Swinburne University have joined the Wollongong Undergraduate Students Association in backing the national strike. The Sydney, Melbourne and WA branches of the Maritime Union of Australia have endorsed June 1, with the Melbourne and WA branches promising to bring members along to the rallies.
"A lot of my friends have been affected by these changes", Penrith High School student Matthew Wilson-Leary told Green Left Weekly. "Some have been forced onto AWAs [Australian Workplace Agreements — individual contracts] and their penalty rates have been eliminated. It's clear that young people have a lot to lose, but as the French students showed, we can win!"
James Bennett, a student at Sydney's Knox Grammar School, told GLW he has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of support the strike has generated at his school, but says there is still "mixed opinion" about the new laws. Perhaps that's not surprising given that a range of high-profile figures, including former ALP prime minister Gough Whitlam, finance minister Nick Minchin and right-wing shock jock John Laws, hailed from the school. Bennett strongly opposes the misnamed Work Choices and VSU laws, arguing, "They are an attack on students' and employees' rights to organise ... There'll be a number of us walking out [of school] to join the protest."
"The law gives more power to employers to disregard the rights of workers, especially young workers, who are bullied into accepting bad contracts", Perth Modern School student James Turner said. "We want to show Howard and employers the power of students. We want to overcome the stereotype that teenagers don't care."
The JCU Cairns Student Association has been campaigning to get students on board the June 1 strike. While the protest is being supported by the Victorian branch of the National Union of Students, the NUS national executive refused to give endorsement. JCU Cairns Student Association president Janine Aitken is scathing about this: "Work Choices is the major attack on youth, and we need to confront it. How could NUS not protest against something as fundamental as this attack on the rights of young workers?"
According to Aitken, Work Choices is the most significant attack on youth since the introduction of conscription during the Vietnam War. She pointed to the university administration's attempt to sack 101 staff at JCU, stressing that it was crucial that students take action. "Staff will be fired if they protest and so students have to speak out on their behalf. If we stand up [to VSU and Work Choices] we will encourage others. We have no choice but to!"
Chris Peterson, a student at Melbourne University who is also a worker, told GLW: "At my job, they denied me breaks. They backed down once I got the union in, but Work Choices is already making it much harder for unions to defend our rights."
NUS female queer officer Rachel Evans, who argued for NUS to back the strike, said "VSU is really just more Liberal union-bashing, attacking our right to organise. University students are copping it from all sides. Our rights on campus are attacked by VSU and our rights in the workplace are attacked by Work Choices. By protesting on June 1, we can also help generate support for the union campaign against Work Choices, and inspire other workers to come out in force for the ACTU national day of action on June 28."
Mary Weir, a student at Wollongong West TAFE, told GLW that TAFE students were especially affected by Work Choices: "We are being trained in trades where the bosses have a lot of power, we are likely to be going into the private industry where bosses are more likely to use AWAs against us."
Chris Cain, the secretary of the WA MUA, has committed his union to send members to the Perth strike. "The MUA supports young people who are fighting for their rights, whether it's against the Howard government's attacks on education or in defence of wages and conditions that our class has won over 100 years. We'll help anyone fighting for justice, whether they be pensioners, construction workers, students or teachers. If they are fighting back against Howard's attacks, we'll support them", Cain told GLW.
Susan Price, the acting president of the University of NSW branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, which has endorsed the strike and is organising buses to get their members to it, told GLW that young people taking action "lifts the morale of the entire union movement". It also sets an example of how to fight, she said. "Some want the campaign against Work Choices to be channelled into a 're-elect Labor' campaign. To have students taking direct action on the streets shows a way forward for all workers. The recent French strikes, where a right-wing government was forced to scrap its anti-worker laws, were a powerful reminder of this."
[For details of the actions and to sign a statement in support of the strike, visit <http://www.resistance.org.au>.]
From Green Left Weekly, May 24, 2006.
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