Fred Fuentes
Chanting "Too young to vote, so hear us yell! Work Choices go to hell!", more than 500 young people, most of them high-school students, marched in Sydney on June 1 to protest against the Howard government's attacks on young workers (click here to see footage from Sydney's strike).
Nationwide, more than 1600 people joined the student strike against Work Choices, which was initiated by the socialist youth organisation Resistance and supported by many student organisations and trade unions.
The turnout showed young people's determination to be heard following state education departments around the country and much of the media condemning the protests because, they claimed, students know little about the new workplace laws. At rally after rally on June 1, students spoke about their first-hand knowledge of the effects of Work Choices — of being fired over the public address system at their workplace, or being sacked for missing a shift because they were in hospital, or without any reason after working for a year on $4 a hour with no benefits or basic rights. Some students risked suspension or even expulsion from school for speaking out.
Some trade unions sent speakers and contingents to the rallies. Tim Vollmer from the NSW Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union congratulated students in Sydney for participating and argued that, because the Work Choices laws are affecting all workers, a united response to the attacks was essential. Vollmer and other trade union speakers urged young people to join the June 28 national day of action called by the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Trent Hawkins reported from Perth that Joel Asphar, a young organiser for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), told 300 protesters that the only way to win this battle for workers' rights is to take collective action on the streets. Ian Bray from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) gave a fiery speech about how the laws are badly affecting all workers and why everyone should support the June 28 mobilisations.
More than 150 marched in Brisbane after hearing speeches from activists with the United Casual Workers Alliance, the Youth Affairs Network, the Electrical Trades Union and Resistance. The march stopped outside KFC and Starbucks outlets to specifically condemn these large corporations for their super-exploitation of young workers.
In Adelaide, 200 students marched through the streets then hung a banner in the city centre. Sixty of the protesters signed up to join an ongoing Students Against Work Choices network.
Sean Seymour Jones reported from Melbourne that 200 students were joined by contingents of MUA and AMWU members in a march to the office of Fair Pay Commission head Ian Harper at Melbourne University. In Wollongong, reported Katie Cherrington, the protesters gathered outside the Liberal Party offices in the town centre then marched through the mall distributing leaflets to publicise the June 28 action. They stopped outside a Spotlight store to draw attention to the company's attempts to put its workers on a new employment contract that would remove overtime pay, penalty rates and other conditions for a meagre $0.02 per hour pay rise.
From Cairns, Kimberley Bernays reported that the protesters received a lot of public support and "everyone who came was very excited about taking a stand for their rights". She added that all the students were determined to come out again on June 28.
In Canberra, reported Bess Anon, protesters made a lot of noise as they marched to Liberal Senator Gary Humphries' office, before meeting in the Resistance Centre to plan an ongoing campaign, including organising meetings on the issue at local schools.
Mel Barnes reported that the biggest contingent at the Hobart rally came from Rosny College, where students and an Australian Education Union member held a forum on Work Choices in the lead-up to the June 1 strike. In Newcastle, reported Zane Alcorn, 40 protesters were undeterred by the presence of as many police, all dressed in riot gear.
At all the rallies the message was clear: young people will continue to protest until Work Choices is repealed. In most cities, meetings were held after the rallies to plan the next steps in building the June 28 nationwide protests, and in particular students and young workers participation.
[More reports on page 6. To dob in your boss, or to see more photos from June 1, reports by young people about their workplace experiences, and information about Resistance's plans for the June 28 national day of action, visit <http://resistance.org.au>.]
From Green Left Weekly, June 7, 2006.
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