BY SUE BULL
MELBOURNE — The city's immigration department offices are almost certain to be closed on the morning of May 1 when protesters against racist attacks on refugees, the US war drive and union bashing will converge on them. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is arguing with management to shut the whole building down from 7am to 11am, in order to protect the occupational health and safety of the building's 4000 workers.
In the past, attempts by progressive and anti-corporate activists to blockade buildings have resulted in controversial negotiations between protesters and union officials about the impact of such action upon workers in the building.
There is now, however, growing consensus amongst militant unionists and progressive activists in Melbourne about the need for pro-worker, anti-corporate and anti-racist protests on May 1. Although before 2001 protests had not be held on May 1 itself for many years (there is an annual march held on the Sunday closest to May 1), many now assume M1 protests will be an annual event.
This is also reflected in the number of groups supporting M1, which will include a "unity march" as well as the morning blockade. M1 is supported by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union as well as activist groups like Friends of the Earth and the Refugee Action Collective and left-wing groups such as the Democratic Socialist Party.
The CPSU's decision is a popular one among unionists and progressive activists. If the building is shut down by workers, ugly police violence against peaceful protesters is less likely. Many activists believe images presented on the evening news of police beating up demonstrators obscure the political message that protesters are attempting to convey.
This may have been why some groups, such as the Greens and the Victorian Trades Hall Council, haven't endorsed the blockade, but are planning to join the unity march and still want to see an action which has a powerful impact.
Blockading can be a useful tactic to highlight injustice and unite militants in action. By blockading the immigration department, we are symbolically "detaining the detainers of refugees". The support for such tactics is indicated by the participating unions' decision to march to the blockade.
Whatever the differences in tactical approach, all those involved in supporting M1 actions seem to agree that May 1 should be a day of protest against attacks on the working class — taking up multiple demands and involving different actions through the day. May 1 is now an alliance of the most progressive and militant forces in Melbourne.
May 1 will be a day to forge these alliances in action. The blockade, if the building is shut down, will take on the air of a festival. Different groups will stage different actions protesting for refugees, indigenous people and the environment and against the oppression of the Third World, the war in Palestine and the attacks on workers and unions.
The participating unions have been preparing their members for a day of international workers' solidarity. Some workers aren't too keen on supporting refugees and they don't know much about the attacks on Indigenous people, the environment or the Third World. But our new style May Day is going to expose them to these issues in the spirit of unity and tolerance as we all march down Bourke St to Nike together, following the huge trucks and cranes that are so symbolic of workers' power.
We'll then march up Collins Street to roast the royal commission into the building industry. The findings of this commission may be used by sate or federal governments to try to de-register the union which arguably displays the most international and community solidarity of any union today — the CFMEU.
When workers began their annual May Day marches more than a century ago, they could not have foreseen the demands workers would be fighting for in the 21st century. But while some things have changed, the need for workers' solidarity has not. This new, vibrant May Day in Melbourne will encompass the same spirit that workers marched with in 1890. Another world is possible.
[Sue Bull is a member of the Democratic Socialist Party and an organiser with the M1 Collective]
From Green Left Weekly, April 24, 2002.
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