Geelong unionists march for peace

BY SUE BULL

GEELONG — At lunchtime on March 25, 400 workers walked off the job to oppose the war on Iraq. They gathered outside Geelong Trades Hall to hear speakers from many unions condemn the US-led slaughter.

Andrea Maksimovic from the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia was one of the first speakers and gave a moving account of how devastating the war will be on the Iraqi people.

Craig Johnston, former Victorian state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, said students were leading opposition to the war and called on workers to follow their example. The Geelong Advertiser, the main local newspaper, used Johnston's address as a way of attacking the size of the rally. Its March 25 headline, 'Workers Divided", attempted to undermine the success of the rally by highlighting the arguments of workers who did not attend the rally or were pro-war.

Yet, as several union commentators noted, the rally gave Geelong workers their first opportunity to hear from union leaders as to why they have an interest in defending workers in other countries. Tim Gooden, a shop steward with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, spoke at the rally on behalf of the Geelong Anti-war Coalition and the Socialist Alliance.

Gooden said: "The Advertiser is just following the lead of many other media outlets by looking for an angle to prevent the unions getting seriously involved in the peace movement. They are trying to beat up a story and make out that peace is not union business. They attack workers one day and students the next, in an attempt to keep the peace movement tame and under control."

Following the rally, the protesters, led by a giant "No hoWARd" banner, marched loudly through the streets of Geelong before returning to Trades Hall.

From Green Left Weekly, April 2, 2003.

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From GLW issue 532