By Nikki Ulasowski
WOLLONGONG — Resistance activists from Wollongong have returned from the Resistance national conference, held in Melbourne July 5-7, with renewed energy and enthusiasm for building campaigns against the Howard government's attacks on young workers and students.
A report entitled "No Fees, No HECS, No Cuts: Fighting the Coalition's Attacks on Education", which was discussed and adopted by delegates at the conference, confirmed Resistance's commitment to campaigning against the massive education cuts expected in the August budget, and support for the NTEU's 15% pay claim. The report also outlined a perspective of critical support for the National Union of Students and made plans for running Resistance members as delegates to the NUS conference, and in various student union elections.
Resistance member Toby Hawker said, "At Wollongong Uni, one of the current campaigns is to defend student representation on the union board, which the vice-chancellor is seeking to cut. Linked with this issue are federal government cuts to education funding and the threat of voluntary student unionism. These are issues which will affect all students, and as many as possible ought to be part of the coming demonstrations against these proposals."
From July 22 to 26, Resistance members at Wollongong University will be focusing on increasing the distribution of Green Left Weekly. Hawker said, "We are planning to use this week to campaign amongst students about the budget cuts, particularly to education, and to build support for the NTEU strike on August 7. On the Thursday, there will also be a special Resistance Bookshop stall on campus, with a huge range of progressive books on sale."
At the Resistance conference, one of the projections made was to organise a youth wages campaign. Young workers suffer exploitation in the form of "slave" wages, often as low as $3 an hour. They are also one of the least unionised sections of the work force.
In addition to the wages campaign, Resistance will be campaigning against the Workplace Relations Bill, which will make TAFE students and apprentices, rather than their employer, pay for their job training. Wollongong Resistance branch is currently initiating this campaign through handing out leaflets and having stalls on the issue at TAFE campuses.
Resistance is also involved in organising a rally at 12.30pm in the Wollongong mall on August 24, as part of the Free East Timor National Day of Action. Hawker commented, "We are inspired by the struggle of the East Timorese youth against the brutal Indonesian occupation of their country. We will be advertising a meeting at Wollongong Uni with Indonesian pro-democracy activist Nico Wahid speaking.
"He's speaking as part of a NSW campus tour organised by Resistance and the NUS state branch", continued Hawker, "The tour will be an important way of letting students know about the links between the struggle for democracy in Indonesia and for freedom in East Timor, as well as the Australian government and big business ties with the Suharto regime." If you're interested in getting involved in any of these campaigns, contact Wollongong Resistance on (042) 262 010.