SYDNEY — M1 Sydney has adopted a “call to action”, seeking the endorsement and active participation of organisations and individuals in building the mass anti-corporate protests planned for May 1, which are focused on a blockade of the Australian Stock Exchange.

The call, adopted by a February 8 meeting of the alliance, attended by 80 people, states, “M1 Sydney, alongside similar groups in major cities around the country, is seeking to build on the successes of the anti-corporate tyranny movement by facilitating the organisation of a diversity of actions to protest against corporate rule on May 1, 2001, focussed on a blockade of the Australian Stock Exchange in Sydney's corporate heartland.”

The call points out, “By walking out of workplaces, campuses and schools to join the international action against corporate globalisation on May 1, we will be uniting with peoples in the Third World who have been fighting the disastrous impact of corporate destruction for decades. On that day, the power of large numbers of people united in struggle for an end to exploitation and injustice will be seen and heard around the world.”

The statement calls on “all progressive groups and individuals, including trade unions, progressive political parties, green, feminist, queer, disabled, unemployed, student, indigenous, internationalist, socialist and anarchist activists, and entertainers and performers to be part of the M1 activities, and encourages representatives and individuals to participate in the organisation and publicising of M1 and to take their own initiatives to strengthen this mobilisation of people's power.”

Debate centred on the centrality or otherwise of a blockade of the stock exchange.

Rage Against Global Exploitation member Jesse Wynhausen argued that the M1 activities should centre on diverse actions, in particular on a lunchtime rally in the city which some trade unions are said to be advocating (although, as yet, no official statement has been made by any union). If we focus on a blockade of the stock exchange, Wynhausen said, the NSW Trades and Labor Council and the ACTU will publicly condemn M1.

This argument was largely supported by International Socialist Organisation (ISO) leader Tad Tietze, who argued that trade unions won't endorse a day of action centred on such a blockade, so M1 Sydney should rather emphasise the diversity of actions of the day.

Others disagreed. Noreen Davin and John Morris, members of the Activist Teachers Network, explained that a NSW Teachers Federation branch last week adopted a motion supporting M1 and the blockade.

Tom Flanagan, a member of the maritime union and the Democratic Socialist Party, explained that most of Victoria's trade union leaders had opposed the S11 blockade of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne last year, but were eventually forced to support it, at least in part because the S11 organisers held strongly to the idea that a mass civil disobedience action was necessary.

A motion, put by Love and Rage's Sergio Fiedler, to remove the call to action's reference to the focus on the blockade was lost 22 to 17.

Reports from initial meetings of eight working groups were presented, including on media responses so far, approaches to trade unions, support from musicians and ideas for significantly broadening out the publicity for the M1 Sydney meetings and M1 itself.

The working group established to organise an anti-corporate float in Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in March, GLAM (Gays and Lesbians Against Multinationals), announced that it had won its appeal against Mardi Gras organisers' decision not to allow an M1 float.

Volunteers to help in the community liaison, entertainment and fundraising, legal, first aid and civil disobedience training working groups are needed.

Other activists reported on the formation of local M1 groups in the Parramatta, Bondi, Manly and Chatswood areas. M1 Sydney's participation in the International Women's Day march on March 10 and preparations for an M1-organised “Corporate scumbags tour” of the city on March 17 were also discussed.

M1 Sydney will now meet each Thursday at 7pm, with every second meeting being devoted to working groups. Anyone interested in getting involved is very welcome.

To confirm the meeting venue or obtain more information and copies of leaflets and posters to build M1, join the egroup by sending a blank message to m1_sydney-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or phone Zanny on 0425 209 375.

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