BY GRANT COLEMAN
PERTH — Resistance is urging high school students here to strike from 8.30am on May 1 and join the blockade of this city's stock exchange in protest at corporate globalisation.
Amie Hamilton, a Resistance member and high school student, stated "The anti-racism walkouts in 1998 and the one during S11 last year proved that high school students are willing to participate in political action. They also showed their enthusiasm for leading the growing global anti-corporate movement."
Agreement has also been reached between different groups organising the high school strike to converge on the same place. Initially Resistance and the Socialist Party called for seperate convergence points, which would have split the contingent and resulted in a far less effective political statement.
To resolve the issue, high school activists, including those from Resistance, formed a specific M1 Alliance for high school students. The Socialist Party has since also decided to join the high school M1 Alliance and to encourage students to meet at the Perth Cultural Centre, the convergence point decided on by the group.
In the lead-up to the strike Resistance will be distributinbg leaflets and posters at high schools in both Fremantle and Perth. Activists will also be setting up a "mobile M1", which will drive to a number of schools to publicise the protest. The group is also planning a teach-in to maintain the momentum for M1.
The high school M1 Alliance meets every second Saturday. The next meeting is on March 17 in the Perth Resistance office.