Unions ACT change protest plans

Paul Oboohov, Canberra

The Unions ACT rally against PM John Howard's new industrial laws, set for August 9, the first sitting day of the new Senate, will no longer be held in front of Parliament House as planned, but several kilometres away in Garema Place, Civic. The rally, which will now start at 9am, will be addressed by ACTU president Sharan Burrow and ALP leader Kim Beazley.

Unions ACT had previously decided to hold the rally at 8.30am in front of Parliament House so that workers could attend on their way to work. As a union delegate on the campaign committee, I was unable to convince the other committee members to agree to a lunchtime rally to maximise participation. Unions ACT has also not attempted to facilitate involvement from interstate unionists in the protest.

Unions ACT has a major case of paranoia about organising anything that might possibly lead to a repeat of the August 19, 1996, rally prior to the passage of the Workplace Relations Act, when frustrated workers stormed the doors of parliament. This is why Unions ACT shies away from building any event that might be too large to control.

We need a serious political fight to defend our hard-won pay and working conditions in the face of Howard's anti-union legislative onslaught. A mass protest outside parliament when the Senate opens would show that we mean business.

From Green Left Weekly, August 3, 2005.

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From GLW issue 636