Socialist Party Australia - Hundreds of thousands take to the streets to say NO to Howard's work laws

All of Australia's major cities were brought to a halt on June 30 with workers striking and protesting against John Howard's proposed changes to industrial relations legislation.
Socialist Party members report....

Melbourne

Well over 100,000 workers marched through Melbourne on 30 June, against the imminent attacks of the Federal Government of John Howard under the new Industrial Relations legislation.

For once, the militant CFMEU union members were outnumbered at a union rally by white collar workers, metal workers, cleaners, and other sections of the class, such as psychologists, lab technicians and actors.

As some workers left Trades Hall, in South Carlton, others had already arrived at Federation Square, 2 kms away! The rally showed to workers their potential power and will stiffen their resistance to those arrogant bosses who think 1 July – when Howard’s right wing government brings in new anti-worker Industrial Relations legislation - will magically wipe out trade unionism.

The mood amongst those who have already been under attack, such as the postal workers, who defied court orders to attend the rally, was loud and defiant. Most workers, however, were in a thoughtful mood. The rally was relatively quiet, especially compared to the Socialist Party/Unite rally of school students last Friday (see previous report on this site).

Workers have no confidence in any strategy from their leaders that means waiting for or relying on a Labor Party (ALP) election victory. They well remember that the last Federal Labor government smashed unions and introduced a wage-cutting "Accord". Workers also remember how Trades Hall, in Victoria, called off the mass movement against the Kennett State Liberal Government in the early 1990s. They are willing to fight, if they are convinced their leadership will go all the way, but are wary of losing pay for a half-hearted campaign.

Union militants need to offer an alternative to the line of the Australian Congress of Trades Unions (ACTU) and moderate union leaders. The Socialist Party argues that we need to pressurise the more militant union leaders to continue the campaign of industrial action, including a national 24-hour general strike, to stop Howard. Workers also need a genuine political alternative, a new workers' party with mass support.

The Socialist Party and Unite had a marvellous participation on the rally. We sold over 500 copies of our paper, which included a 4-page supplement on the Industrial Relations attacks and our strategy to defend workers' wages and conditions. Thousands of workers wore our anti-Howard sticker, including Kim Beazley (embarrassingly for him!), the Labor Party leader, as seen on the TV news that night. Hundreds of workers wore our badges, including the "Eureka Was ‘Illegal’" badge

Perth

It is difficult to estimate how many turned out in Perth to protest against the IR attacks on working people. Some estimate between 15,000 - 20,000. It was certainly one of the biggest rallies in Perth for years.

What is not hard to estimate is the widespread anger and determination to fight these IR laws. The turn out was far in excess of what anyone expected, especially since many right wing unions did nothing to inform their members and even some supposed strong unions! The more militant unions had excellent turn outs.

Building and Maritime unions were in force. Unions representing workers in mining have had excellent turn outs through out the state in places like the Pilbara.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Sharan Burrow told protesters their rights and wages would be stripped away under the laws.

But hypocritically WA Premier Geoff Gallop pledged his Government's support to the protesters. "We will fight for balance, we will fight for fairness, we will fight for the great state of Western Australia," he said. This whilst fighting to keep down wages in the public sector and not investing enough in services.

Despite all this there is a mood in WA to fight back against this Howard government. Now it is time to fight for a 24 hour national strike. The mood is there for a huge response.

Ther were also large demonstrations in other major cities including an estimated 15,000 who converged on the CBD in Brisbane, 10,000 in Geelong (regional Victoria), 7000 in Adelaide, 4000 in Hobart and over 1000 in Darwin. Many other smaller rallies were held in other regional centres across the counrty.

New South Wales held thier demonstrations on July 1st where about 20,000 workers marched through Sydney to the Harbour Bridge. (more reports from NSW to follow soon)